


The secret of the son of Hades (revamped)

by jay_the_timber_wolf



Series: The Secret series [2]
Category: Maximum Ride - James Patterson, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU (Obviously), Aged up flock, Angel is 8, Biosexual Nico, Fang is 17, Gazzy is 12, Gen, I'll add more tags as i go, Iggy is 17, Memories, Mutant Nico, Nico has a few issues, Not beta read we die like men/women, Nudge is 14, Poor Nico, Violence, max is 17, possible angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26089438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jay_the_timber_wolf/pseuds/jay_the_timber_wolf
Summary: Nico has a secret and has been keeping it for many years. He doesn't want anyone to know that he's something else besides being a demigod, he's not normal. But Nico's wings are a part of him so he can't think of himself being any other way. But his life is turned upside down one day when he faces something he had only heard about from his mother, Erasers.
Relationships: Fang/Maximum "Max" Ride, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean
Series: The Secret series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894165
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is the revamped version of another work I made. Hope you enjoy the new spin on something old.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico's life gets turned upside down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This you read the old work I hope you enjoy this new spin on it

_Nico’s POV_

“Nico wake up! You’re going to miss breakfast again at this rate!” Hazel said, trying to drag me out of bed. I groaned as I blinked tiredly at her. “Alright I’m up, I’m up. Let me go so I can get dressed.” I said. Hazel let go of me which caused my head to knock into the floor but it didn’t really hurt that much. I got up and looked at her as I grabbed some clothes. “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up. Promise.” I said. Haze looked at me. “You wouldn’t take a nap if I leave?” She asked. I nodded. “I wouldn’t, now go! I’m sure Frank is dying to see you, not literally of course.” I said, waving my sister away.

Hazel left after a bit and I sighed in relief. I reached up and pulled off the hoodie I slept in and let my wings stretch out, the feathers slightly ruffled from sleep. I looked in the mirror and saw the black and white feathers of my wings, most of them were black but my flight feathers were white and even then there were subtle patterns in the black parts of my wings that seemed to change when you looked away. I smiled and fluttered my wings, making my feathers rustle. My wings had been completely black when I was little but that changed when I got my adult feathers. I was glad no one had seen the amount of shed feathers when that happened.

I thought as I looked in the mirror about my mother and what she told me. _“Nico never tell anyone about your wings, never ever tell them what you are. If you do they will try to use you, study you, torture you. Never trust anyone.”_ She had told me. I ran a hand over one of my wings and then tucked in my wings, I got dressed and one of the things I made sure to put on was my jacket that didn’t have slits cut in the back, I didn’t know how to fly so why would I cut slits into my jacket? I left the cabin and ran to the mess hall, gathering up a good serving of food before sitting down next to Hazel.

“Good to see you’re here, how’s it been staying at camp?” Jason asked as he sat down in across from me. I shrugged. “Eh, could be better honestly. Might go with you guys to Camp Jupiter though.” I said. Jason looked at me. “Why? You seem pretty set up here.” He said. I shrugged. “Getting restless staying here, Camp Jupiter has New Rome so I can stretch my legs more often and not see the same places all the time. That’s all.” I said. I was lying through my teeth, the truth was my mother had told me something when I was little.

 _“Never stay in one place too long Nico, otherwise an Eraser might find you. You don’t want an Eraser to find you do you? So make sure you travel sometimes and have multiple places to stay where you feel safe. That is how you stay safe.”_ She had told me. Erasers were monsters my mother said were so vicious you were lucky to get away uninjured, she described them as wolf like but I had never seen one in person. I admit I got nervous if I was suddenly faced with a wolf because I had no idea if it could be an Eraser or not.

Jason didn’t seem to question it and I was glad for that. “Okay, we were gonna leave tomorrow.” He said. I nodded. “Okay, I can pack up a bag.” I said. Jason nodded and we all returned to eating, I was glad for this because I really didn’t want to talk any more. Eventually I finished eating and stood up, walking towards the cabin. “I’m gonna make sure I have a bag packed, then spend some time in the woods.” I said. Jason nodded and Hazel looked at me as I went over to the cabin. Entering the cabin I went over to my bunk and reached under it, pulling out my backpack that I always had packed for a quick leave like my mother instructed me to always have. As I opened it up to check the contents I saw a slip of paper there that wasn’t there before.

Curious I unfolded it and looked at it, there was a number written on it but distrust fueled me so I crumpled it up and threw it away. I looked through my bag for anything else out of place but found nothing so I zipped it back up and pushed it back under my bed. I stood up and saw a feather resting on my bed, it was black so it was probably mine so I picked it up and tossed it so Hazel wouldn’t find it. I walked out of the cabin and was greeted almost immediately with Leo, I stopped short of slamming into the smaller boy. “Leo! Is there anything you need from me?” I asked.

“Yeah, how are you growing so tall!? I swear in the last few weeks you’ve grown five inches!” Leo said, gesturing to me. I chuckled and looked away from him. “I guess it’s just genetics Leo, my _Madre_ was pretty tall too.” I said. Leo looked at me confused. “What?” He asked. It accrued to me pretty quickly that Leo didn’t know what I meant when I said that. “ _Madre_ , it means ‘Mother’ in Italian.” I explained easily. Leo looked at me. “Ah, so you say _Madre_ when others mean mom.” He said. I nodded. “Yeah, I sometimes still use Italian phrases.” I said.

Leo nodded. “Yeah, I still say some Spanish phrases too but I’ve never heard you use Italian phrases before.” He said. I looked at him. “Well I only really use terms of endearment or family things like that. So I say _Nonna_ and _Madre_ mostly but I don’t just go around saying Italian phrases.” I said. Leo nodded and I shut the door to the cabin. As I got off the steps Leo turned to look at me. “Hey Nico, you aren’t going to leave anytime soon right?” He asked. I turned to him. “Actually I’m gonna leave for Camp Jupiter tomorrow.” I said.

“Why? This was the first camp you came to when you found out you were a demigod.” Leo said. I looked at him. “I didn’t stay for long though, I don’t feel welcome here and it makes me uncomfortable. I just want to be comfortable for a few days okay?” I said. I was lying again, I didn’t feel comfortable anywhere because I was afraid an Eraser would find me and I seriously did not want that to happen. But Leo did not know that and just nodded. “Okay, I guess I can understand that. Just get back here at some point okay?” He asked.

I looked at him and nodded. “Okay, I’m gonna go do something. See ya.” I said. With that conversation done with I walked off and into the woods around camp. Making sure I was as far away from camp as I could be I took off my jacket and let my wings stretch out, feeling cramped up. I stretched out my wings wide and groaned as I stretch out my arms as well. “Gods of Olympus, I should really stretch them out more. I should practice today even if them are sore.” I said. With those thoughts in mind I went over to a familiar tree and climbed up onto a sturdy branch. I tested it by hopping up and down and when it didn’t crack and groan under my weight I nodded and lowered my center of gravity and opening my wings a bit.

I leaped from the branch and opened my wings, flapping them and feeling the muscles stretch in them. I landed on the ground at least twenty feet from my starting point and looked at my wings, beating them to get the blood flowing. “Alright, better than last time.” I said. I walked over to my jacket and scooped it up, slipping it on and hiding my wings once again. My wings felt better after that stretch so I was able to go through my day without much trouble. I laid on my stomach in bed as the night fell and Hazel went to sleep, falling asleep not long after that.

* * *

“Guys come on, keep up!” I called over my shoulder, we were at the last stretch to get to Camp Jupiter and the others were falling way behind. Frank was almost carrying Hazel at this point and Jason looked about ready to collapse. The blonde looked at me with a glare in his blue eyes. “How are you keeping up such a brutal pace! We’ve been basically jogging just to keep up with you!” He said. I shrugged. “Long legs I guess?” I said. I heard a chuckle and a voice spoke up. “About time someone found you.” It said.

I turned around and saw a large man grinning at me with a look on his face I didn’t like. I turned to him. “Um, can I help you?” I asked. The man’s grin widened. “You sure can freak.” He said. That was when I saw him begin to morph, his features turning wolf like and fingernail elongating into huge claws. I immediately knew and was scared to hell, i was face to face with an Eraser. I screamed and turned, running as fast as I could. My mother told me one thing about Erasers, to not fight them but to run and hope they didn’t catch up to you. 

I don’t know if the others followed, I just ran. I was so afraid and didn’t want to be caught by the Eraser or Erasers if they were moving in a pack. I kept running, unsure of where I was going. That is until I tripped, I fell and tumbled over myself before coming to a stop. I groaned and looked up, finding myself in a forest and I was unsure of where I was. Then I heard the growling and got back up, taking off and pouring all the power I had into my legs as I ran. I didn’t think as I ran, that is until I ran right into a clearing facing a cliff. I skidded to a halt in front of the cliff and turned to look behind me. The Erasers emerged from the forest and I couldn’t help but shake in fear as they appeared, their mouths dripping with drool.

“There’s no where to run freak, it’s about time you’re found. Too bad we can’t have to original.” One said. I whimpered and backed up, I heard a rock fall down into the water below and I was suddenly so aware of how close they were. I turned to look at what was bellow and saw a lake, if I could just fly over it. But I could barely fly as it is, maybe I could slow my fall down at least. I looked at the Erasers and weight my options, eventually I had made up my mind. I turned away from the Erasers and leaped off the cliff, starting to plumpt to the water below, I stripped off my jacket and opened my wings, flapping them and catching the air.

But my wings burned with the stress of carrying me through the air and after only a few yards I couldn’t beat them anymore, my wings were so sore and I started falling through the air. I curled in on myself and waited, sure enough I hit the water. I paddled my way to the surface and gasped, looking around to see if an Eraser had followed me somehow but saw nothing. I was so glad and swam to shore, holding my jacket in my hands. I pulled myself out of the water and shook myself off, stretching my wings out so the feathers could dry in the sun.

I sighed as I sat down on the ground and looked at the sky. “Great, I feel like this will only get worse.” I said. I pulled my jacket back on and looked around, wondering if I would risk going back to check on the others or run because I was so scared of being found by the Erasers again. I looked at my feet and frowned, I wanted to make sure Hazel was okay but I was scared. I sighed and looked at the sky. “God damn it, this day just can’t get any worse.” I growled. I got up and ringed out my jacket without taking it off, I was still soaking wet and cold but I really wanted to just figure out if Hazel, Jason, and Frank were alright but how could I do that if there were Erasers around camp?

I ran a hand through my hair and looked around the forest, I hadn’t seen any Erasers since I jumped off the cliff, maybe they thought I had flown away after all. I turned around to start walking away and find my way back to camp but I froze in place when I saw a little girl standing there, looking at me with bright blue eyes. I looked around before looking at this girl who looked to be ten years old. “Um… hi there. Do you know where I am because I’m kinda lost.” I asked her. The girl looked at me. “You’re wet.” She said.

“Yeah I fell in the lake, can you just help me out a little bit?” I asked. The girl looked at me. “Wouldn’t you prefer to be dry? I’m sure we have some spare clothes you can wear while we get that taken care of.” She said. I shook my head. “No  _ Miele _ it’s fine, just help me find my way.” I said. She just looked at me, then she walked forward and grabbed my hand. “Our house has a nice view, you can probably find your way there and we can get you some clothes too.” She said. I realized I couldn’t deny this little girl and nodded. “Okay  _ Tesoro _ , I guess that works.” I said. She looked to me with a smile. “My name is Angel by the way.” She said. I looked at Angel and smiled. “I’m Nico di Angelo, it’s nice to meet you Angel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked leave a kudos and comment your thoughts, they help me write.


	2. Italian phrases

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico meets Angel's family.

_ Nico’s POV _

Angel dragged me through the woods, I had no idea where we were going but Angel seemed to know exactly where to go. Eventually the trees cleared up and I saw a house perched on a cliff. “Woah, no wonder you think I can find my way from there. You guys are pretty remote.” I said. Angel nodded and led me up to where we could see the house. “Yeah, but we like it here.” She said. I nodded, looking around. “So you live with your parents?” I asked.

“What parents?” Angel said. I looked at her, confused. “Okay, then who do you live with?” I asked. Angel pulled me forward before answering. “My family but not all of us are related by blood. Only me and my brother are related really.” She said. I nodded as we finally got to the door, I had a clear view of the valley from where we stood so I should be able to find my way from the house. Angel opened the door and walked in, pulling me along with her. “I’m back!” She called out. 

I watched as a girl appeared, she had brown hair with sun streaks and brown eyes and looked at Angel with a motherly smile. It took her a bit to see me. “Who’s this Angel?” She asked. Angel looked at me and tugged me towards her. “His name is Nico, Nico this is Max. She’s kinda like the group mom.” She said. I looked at Max and gave her a nervous smile. “Hi, look I’m just kinda lost and Angel said I could get a good view from here so I can find my way. I don’t plan to stay here long.” I said. Max looked at me and then looked me straight in the eyes. “You’re soaking wet.” She said.

“Um, yeah. Kinda fell into a lake but it’s nothing.” I said. Max looked me up and down. “You’re shivering.” She said. I rubbed my arm. “I’m a little cold, yes but it’s nothing.” I said. Max looked at me and then turned. “Nudge can you get Nico some clothes? You look pretty close to his size.” He said. A African American looking girl nodded and walked off, going down the hallway and disappearing into a room. I looked at Max. “You don’t have to do this.” I said. Max looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Do you want to catch a cold kid?” She asked. I looked away from her. “Um, no?” I said but it sounded like a question.

“Then let us do this, we’re not letting you get sick standing in our house.” Max said. I wanted to argue but then I saw the girl coming back, I guessed her name was Nudge as she held out some clothes to me. “Here, you can change in the bathroom.” She said. I nodded and let Nudge lead me to the bathroom, I shut the door and locked the door. I took off my clothes and stretched out my wings, they felt so sore from my attempt at flight so I stretched them out and flexed them to help them and the tense muscles.

I looked at the clothes Nudge gave me and realized they would be a bit big on me but that didn’t really matter as after I slipped the shirt on, it was grey with long sleeves and as I turned to look I realized I would need a jacket to hide my wings effectively. I put the rest of the clothes on and then peeked out of the bathroom to see Nudge waiting. “Hey, can you get me a jacket?” I asked. She looked at me. “Why?” She asked.

“I’m a little cold, can you?” I asked. Nudge looked at me but then nodded. “Yeah, give me a minute.” She said. I smiled at her. “ _ Grazie _ .” I said. I returned to the bathroom and waited, after a few minutes there was a knock, I peeked outside and saw Nudge with a black jacket in her hands, she held it out to me. “Here, it’s one of Fang’s old ones so I think it’ll fit you.” She said. I smiled and took it from her. “ _ Grazie _ , I’ll be out in a bit.” I said. She nodded and I closed the door, I slipped the jacket on and looked at myself in the mirror. 

The jacket was actually quite large on me but it would work to hide my wings so I exited to bathroom. Nudge was waiting for my outside and giggled when she saw me. “Guess it’s a little big.” She said. I huffed at her. “Whatever, thanks though.” I said. Nudge nodded and then looked at me. “What was that word you said earlier? Gra-... Um, Gri-...” She said. I huffed and looked at her. “It’s  _ Grazie _ , it means ‘thank you’ in Italian.” I said. Nudge nodded. “Then how do you say ‘you’re welcome’ in Italian?” She asked. 

“That would be  _ Prego _ .” I said. Nudge nodded. “Okay, how do you know Italian?” She asked. I looked at her. “I was born in Italy so it’s my first language. My  _ Madre _ taught me to speak English just as well as Italian.” I said. Nudge nodded. “You seem to use it rather irregularly though.” She said. I shrugged. “I use some phrases sometimes but I mostly use terms of endearment and family names like  _ Madre _ or  _ Nonna _ .” I said. Nudge looked at me. “Really? I guess that makes sense.” She said. 

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s just how I do things. It makes sense for me.” I said. Nudge nodded and we entered the living room, Max and Angel were waiting in the living room and I looked at them. “Thank you for this but I should start going.” I said. Max looked at me. “You sure are in a hurry huh? Where are you going?” She asked. I looked at her. “I got separated from my group, I should be getting back to them.” I said. That was when I noticed the boy, he was very tall and was probably seventeen years old like Percy and he was staring right at me. “Well we can take you there if you’ll tell us where you were going.” He said.

I shook my head. “No it’s fine, I can go on my own.” I said. He looked at me. “You’re what, fourteen? Let me at least take you part of the way kid.” He said. I crossed my arms. “Believe it or not I can take care of myself but I guess you can take me part of the way there.” I said. The boy smiled at me. “Good, I’m Fang by the way. Come on, if you insist on going now let’s get moving.” He said. I nodded and Fang took me outside, I looked out at the terrain and tried to see if I knew some landmarks. I saw the hills near Camp Jupiter and realized how close these guys lived to camp. I pointed at them. “I’m going past those hills, a camp lays not that far from it. That’s where we were going.” I said.

Fang looked at it. “Seriously? I’ve never seen a camp near there.” He said. I shrugged and started moving. “It’s hard to see sometimes. Come on, let’s go.” I said. Fang followed me and before I knew it he spoke. “Hey kid, can you follow down your power walk? It’s not like I can’t keep up but jeez. No need to rush.” He said. I stopped and turned as Fang stopped right next to me, I looked at him. “I want to get back, my sister is in the group I was traveling with.” I said. Fang’s eyebrow shot up. “Sister? You have a sister?” He asked.

I nodded. “Hazel Levesque, she’s a year younger than me.” I said. Fang’s eyebrows quirked again. “Levesque? Isn’t your last name di whatever?” He asked. I looked at him. “Look, my name is Nico di Angelo and yes we do have different last names. Hazel is my half sister, we have the same father but our mothers are different.” I said. Fang looked at me. “Okay, any other siblings?” He asked. I shook my head. “I had another sister but she died a few years back, if I have any other siblings I don’t know of them.” I said. Fang looked at me. “Okay, so who else was with your sister?” He asked.

“There’s Jason who is pretty strong on his own, and Frank who is Hazel’s boyfriend. That’s it, it was just them and then me.” I said. Fang looked at me. “So that’s it? Just the four of you? How did you get separated?” He asked. I glanced at him, I really didn’t want to tell him that I had gotten scared by an Eraser which he didn’t know about so what would I say? I decided I just wouldn’t say it so I looked at him. “Look it’s complicated, I’d rather not tell you.” I said.

Fang sighed but then he froze, when I looked up and around I froze in place as I saw we were surrounded by Erasers. I couldn’t stop shaking and I whimpered, moving so I was behind Fang. One of the Erasers chuckled. “Well what do you know? The one we were trying to find led us to another one.” It chuckled. I tried to stop shaking but I couldn’t, it was hard to control my fear as I stared down something my mother told me I should be afraid of. Suddenly I felt a hand on my arm and I tore my eyes away from the Erasers to see Fang, he didn’t look afraid and was completely calm. “It’s okay Nico, it’s okay.” He said.

I looked at him but Fang then turned back to the Erasers and pushed me behind him. “If you want the kid you’ll have to go through me.” He said. I looked at him but the older boy refused to budge. The Erasers started snapping their jaws, snickering and drooling. “You really think you can take us?” One asked. I looked at Fang. “Fang… please, I-I.. I’m scared.” I whimpered to him. Fang turned to me but smiled. “It’s okay Nico, I know what I’m doing. Just stay behind me okay?” He asked. I nodded and looked at the Erasers, still shaking quite a lot.

Suddenly I realized that Max had appeared at some point, she was standing by my side with her back to me, facing the Erasers. I then noticed Nudge drop down from the trees, doing the same as Max but on my other side. When I looked behind me I noticed another tall boy with red hair, his back to me facing the Erasers just like the rest. I looked at Fang who reached back to grab my wrist, running his thumb over the back in a comforting motion. Max put her hands on her hips as she looked at the Erasers. “Back off, none of us are leaving this kid and we all know we can take you with ease and if you did manage to beat us somehow Nico would be long gone by the time you were finished with us.” She said.

The Erasers growled and snapped their jaws but eventually they started leaving one by one until only one was left, they had a scar over their left eye. When the last one was gone Fang looked at the lone Eraser. “Ari can you explain what just happened?” He asked. The Eraser morphed to look human and I watched as Max, Nudge, and red haired boy walked to stand next to Fang as the Eraser looked at them. “I wish I could but I was just kinda roped into this, I don’t know what they know.” He said. Fang turned to me as he seemed to remember I was there and smiled. “It’s okay Nico, Ari is our friend. He wouldn’t hurt you I promise Nico.” He said.

I looked at this Eraser and realized how he held himself, he had his hands behind his back and was looking at me with a curious look. I managed to pull myself away from Fang and the man smiled at me. “Hey there, I’m Ari. And you are?” He asked. I looked at him and reached over, twisting my skull ring. “Nico di Angelo.” I said. Ari smiled at me and then turned to Max. “Okay, let’s get him out of here. The best place for him to be is home.” He said. I distanced myself from Fang and looked at him. “I still have to go, Hazel could be in danger.” I said.

Fang looked at me. “Nico it’s not safe for you to travel alone, maybe I can come with you and we can take Hazel with us so we can make sure you are both safe.” He said. I looked at him. “No, I know where I’m going. I’ll be safe.” I said. Max looked at me. “Nico, you seemed very afraid of the Erasers, did you know what they are?” She asked. I looked at her. “I didn’t even know that was what they were called, look you would be afraid too if you were faced with that!” I said. Nudge looked at me. “Nico, why are you hiding?” She asked.

“I’m not hiding! I’m just a kid!” I yelled at them. I turned to run away but before I could there was a hand on the back of the jacket, my feet were no longer under me and I realized it was because Ari was holding me by the jacket, I looked at him and saw he was frowning. “That can’t be true Nico, just tell the truth okay?” He asked. I wiggled in his grip. “Let me go!” I snapped. Ari frowned at me. “Not until you tell the truth.” He said firmly.

I glared at him and then did what I thought I wouldn’t have to, I reached into the ground and forced it open. Ari yelped and dropped me as he fell into the crack I had created under his feet. I scrambled away from him and then turned to see the others, they were staring at me. I pulled the jacket closer to me and then took off running, moving through the trees in hopes of getting away. I panted as I ran, trying to remember which way I was going so I know which way camp was. Eventually I saw the hills and climbed them, from the top and with my advanced I saw the camp I breathed a sigh of relief, I was so close. 

I slid down the hill I was on and began running towards Camp Jupiter where I knew I was safe. My legs felt a bit weak and I stumbled, I looked up and saw a shape in the sky, when it started to descend on me I yelped and curled in on myself, putting my arms over my head. I felt a gust of wind and then a voice, Fang’s voice. “Nico it’s okay it’s just me! It’s okay kid.” I moved my arms and saw Fang standing over me, his face full of concern. I managed to sit up and Fang kneeled down, looking at me. “It’s okay Nico, I followed you when you ran away it’s okay.” He said. 

“I’m fine, I just need to get to camp.” I said. Fang nodded. “I’ll take you there, it's okay Nico.” He said. I looked at him. “No, I just need to go.” I said. I began to get up but my legs refused to work, what was wrong with me? Fang reached forward and touched my forehead, frowning softly. “Nico clearly you’re not well. Come on, I’ll take you.” He said. I looked at Fang, ready to refuse again but then I heard a voice. “Nico!” I turned and saw a head of blonde hair, Jason.

“Jason! I’m over here!” I called out. Jason ran over and slammed down into a kneel almost right away, he turned to Fang. “What happened to him? He’s wearing different clothes than when we lost him.” He said. Fang looked at him. “Nico was soaking wet when Angel brought him to us so we gave him a change of clothes.” He said. Jason nodded and looked at me. “Nico can you get up?” He asked. I tried to get up but my legs refused to hold my weight and I fell down. “I don’t understand, my legs feel weak…” I said.

Jason blinked and looked at me. “Nico when was the last time you ate?” He asked. Fang looked at me and I looked at Jason. “I-it’s been a while.” I said, suddenly feeling very weak now. My arms gave out under me and Fang whipped around. Max and the other three were running towards us. Fang looked so worried. “Nico could be suffering from low blood sugar!” He said. Nudge nodded as she came to a stop, looking at Jason. “Do you have any sweets? Like chocolate or candy?” She asked. 

Jason shook his head but Max came to a stop then and pulled out a chocolate bar. “Here, eat.” She said, offering it to me. I took it and ate it, feeling a little better as Fang started helping me to my feet. Jason took me from him and looked at them. “Thank you for finding him, we should get going. I need to talk to Nico while we get to camp.” He said. Fang looked at Jason. “Actually I don’t think you should go to this camp. Ari told us that there are people waiting for you, well Nico actually.” He said. Jason looked at him. “What? Who’s Ari?” He asked. 

Ari stepped up and I tried to put some distance between us, Ari looked at Jason and nodded. “Yeah, wherever this camp is they’re surrounding the entrance so they will get Nico if you go.” He said. Jason frowned. “Why do you think I came running through the hills looking for Nico? We barely got through the gate before they grabbed Hazel.” He said. I looked at him. “What!? What do you mean they grabbed Hazel?!” I asked. Jason looked at me. “Yeah, they grabbed Hazel while we were running. I heard them saying something about a bargaining chip.” He said.

“They’re going to use Hazel as a bargaining chip, try to get Nico to turn himself into them.” Max said. I stood up, looking around. “I have to find her.” I said. Fang got in front of me before I could even start walking. “Nico no, this is dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.” He said. I looked at him. “Believe me Fang, I’m not some child to protect. I know what I’m doing, this is bigger than you think Fang.” I said. I then turned to Jason, he was standing looking ready. I glanced at Fanag and then turned to Jason. “Let’s go, I’m getting my  _ sorella _ back.” I said.

With that I walked away with Jason by my side. As we walked Jason looked at me. “Nico why did you run when those things appeared, you looked absolutely terrified.” He asked. I looked at him. “I know what those things were but you can’t tell anyone about that. Those things are called Erasers, that’s pretty much all I know about them.” I said. Jason grimaced. “Yeesh, you’d think they’d call them something more pleasant.” He said.

“The point is not to be pleasant but to instill fear, those things are monstrous and should be feared. What I’m about to suggest makes my stomach turn in fear but I refuse to leave Hazel with those things for long.” I said. Jason blinked at me. “Okay, what’s the plan?” He asked. I looked at the sky. “First we’ll need Frank and some explosive arrows.” I started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this leave a kudos and comment your thoughts.


	3. Crazy plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico's crazy plan to get Hazel back from the Erasers, and Fang just isn't going to stand by.

_ Nico’s POV _

Getting Frank was the easy part, getting my two fellow demigods onboard with my plan was the harder part. Frank of course looked at me like I was crazy. “Are you insane! You want me to shoot an explosive arrow at those things while you and Hazel are still in the blast zone! That will kill you!” He said. I sighed and pinched my nose, how do I explain to them that we’ll most likely be fine as long as I can hold out? I don’t know but I need them to understand that I had this handled. “I know it sounds crazy but trust me Frank, I can handle this. I’ll try to get as far as I can from them but that probably wouldn’t be far. Please Frank just trust me.” I said. 

Frank looked at me and eventually his face softened. “Are you sure this will work?” He asked. I looked at him. “Frank you have to trust that I will do whatever it takes to protect Hazel from harm. Now will you trust me?” I asked. Frank looked at Jason and finally nodded. “Okay, I’ll trust you Nico. Now let’s get Hazel back.” He said. I smiled and the three of us started for where the Erasers would be.

* * *

There was at least ten Erasers gathered in a group around Hazel, monstrous claws and maws dripping with drool. I couldn’t stop shaking as I thought about approaching them, Jason seemed to pick up on my fear. “Nico you’ve literally walked through hell, faced down gods and titans and these things scare you?” He asked. I glared at him. “Hey you’d be afraid too! Besides those things aren’t the same.” I said. Frank looked at me. “Than what makes you so afraid of them?” He asked.

I sighed and looked at them. “Well it has to do with knowledge. I know about gods and titans so I know how to deal with them. When I went through Tartarus I knew what to expect when down there. But all I know about these things are that they’re called Erasers and that I should be afraid of them. That’s all my  _ Madre _ ever told me about them.” I said. Jason looked at me, then at the Erasers, and shivered. “I guess that makes sense, they are pretty terrifying.” He said. I nodded and then looked at Frank. “You ready?” I asked. Frank nodded. 

“Are you sure you and Hazel can’t get too far out of the blast zone?” Frank asked. I nodded. “They probably wouldn’t let me get too far in case I try to run they can catch up to me.” I said. Frank nodded and got ready, I looked at him and then looked at the Erasers and Hazel. “You’ll know when to fire the arrow.” I said before standing up and starting to approach. Before I got very far however I was pulled to the side, I lashed out but was immediately meet with a hand. “Are you crazy kid!” A voice hissed. 

I recognized the kid comment and looked behind me, sure enough Fang was holding onto the back of the jacket I wore. I pulled myself away from the older boy and glared at him. “I’ve got this! Trust me I have a plan.” I said. Fang hissed. “A plan to get yourself killed?! Walk away we can handle this!” He said. I looked at him. “We?” I asked. Fang nodded. “The rest are waiting for my signal and then I saw a crazy kid.” He said. I shook my head. “You all have to get out of here! I have this handled, believe me. You’re asking to get blown away if you don’t.” I said.

“Nico let us help, we can handle this.” Fang said. I growled. “I don’t need help! I can do this with what I’ve got, you get out of here. Hazel is my sister, I’m getting her back.” I said. I pulled myself away from Fang and got out of the hiding place Fang had pulled me to and started to walk again, not listening as Fang growled and begged me to return and let him handle this. After a bit of walking the Erasers noticed me. “Well well, looks like the freak decided to save it’s sister.” One chuckled. 

I payed them no mind and looked at Hazel. “Are you okay Haze?” I asked. Hazel nodded but then an Eraser put itself between me and her. “Come on freak, let’s get going.” It said. I huffed. “Let Hazel go first.” I said. The Eraser looked at me. “Maybe we can come to an agreement, you can meet her halfway before coming with us.” It said. I looked at Hazel who was shaking her head, I then glanced behind me and saw Fang. The boy mouthed ‘don’t’ at me, shaking his head. I glanced at where Jason and Frank were hiding and saw that Frank was aiming the arrow, they were ready. I then looked at the Erasers. “Alright then.” I said. 

I then walked forward at the same time as Hazel, in the middle I hugged her. “Hazel I’m so sorry you got caught up in this.” I muttered to her. Hazel squeezed me and looked at me. “It’s okay Nico, I understand that you never intended this to happen. We can still run.” She said. I shook my head. “We’ll never be able to outrun them, but I do have a plan. Don’t worry.” I said. I then looked back and saw Fang trying to creep up. I looked at Frank and nodded to him. I then looked at Fang. “Run! Get out of here!” I yelled. I clutched Hazel close to my body and then got us low to the ground, opening my wings to surround us.

The protective green shield surrounded us right away just as the explosive arrow hit the ground. I gritted my teeth as the explosion battered the protective shield but I held it up even as I felt it drain my energy faster than summoning the dead would. When I felt the shield was no longer being battered and it was safe I folded my wings and let the shield down. I was about ready to collapse but I looked at Hazel as she held onto me. “Are you okay?” I asked. Hazel nodded and I looked behind me. I saw Fang getting up, brushing himself off from dust and dirt but he looked to be unhurt by the blast. 

I managed to stand up and walk with Hazel over to him, he noticed me and looked at me. I smiled at Fang. “I told you that I had this handled. Are you okay?” I asked. Fang nodded, brushing some of his hair behind his ear. “I’m fine, how the hell are you two okay?” He asked. I smiled as my legs wobbled. “It’s very difficult to explain, I’ll try when I don’t feel like I’ll pass out.” I said. Right on cue my legs gave out, Fang managed to catch me before I hit the ground and I looked behind him and saw Jason and Frank running up. Frank and Hazel hugged and Jason sat down on the ground with me and Fang. “Are you alright Nico?” The blonde asked. I nodded. “Yeah I just need to sleep for like a week before ever trying a stunt like that again.” I said. 

“Holy shit how did you survive that?” Max asked as she ran up with Nudge, Angel, Ari, and two other boys. One being the red head from earlier. He stopped near me and tilted his head. “I heard the blast, that was huge! Killed the Erasers but you two should be shredded cheese right now.” He said. I blinked at him. “Mind saying that to my face?” I asked. He nodded. “Sure, where is your face because I have no idea.” He said. I blinked but Fang looked at me. “Iggy is blind but he’s probably pulling your leg, with his hearing he can probably guess where you are right now.” He said.

“You really take the fun out of it Fang, but he’s right. I’m blind, have been for years. But in all honestly I’m glad as much as the others that you’re both okay.” Iggy said. I realized that while Iggy was talking to me he wasn’t looking at me or at anything really so he really was blind like Fang and himself said. I rested my head of Fang’s shoulder and looked at Hazel. “I really need to rest now. Can we go into camp now?” I asked. Frank nodded but before he could walk over and take me from Fang the older boy looked at him. “Maybe Nico will have an easier time resting at our home, it’s nice and quiet there.” He said. 

“The infirmary is pretty calm too, Nico will be fine in camp.” Jason said. I looked at Fang. “He’s right, I’ll be okay in the infirmary. I’ll probably come back to return the clothes and you can see how well I’m doing okay?” I asked. Fang looked at me and sighed. “Okay.” He said. When Frank bent down and took me into his arms Fang let go of me willingly even though he looked rather upset to do so. Frank adjusted me in his arms and looked at Fang. “He’ll be okay. The people at the infirmary know what they’re doing.” He assured. Fang nodded and I felt his eyes on me as we walked away.

I looked at Frank as we walked. “Fang seems pretty worried about me.” I said. Frank nodded. “Yeah, we’ll looking into that later. Right now let’s get you resting.” He said. I nodded and rested on the way back to camp.

* * *

“Are you sure this is the way?” Jason asked as we walked through the forest. I looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, these guys live in a pretty remote area.” I said, checking landmarks to make sure I really was going the right way. The first thing I saw was the lake that Angel had found me at, from there I knew it was a straight shot to their house. I waved them forward, and began walking again, the clothes they had lent me was in a bag I had slung over my shoulder. I was still wearing the jacket because I had no other jacket because my clothes were still at the house because Max had insisted on getting them washed for me. 

I pushed my way out of the trees and saw the house, just as it was when Angel first took me there. I smiled and looked back at Jason, Frank, and Hazel. “See? It’s here just like I thought.” I said. The others followed me as I walked up to the house. Once there I knocked on the door, it took a bit but after a moment Angel opened the door. She smiled and turned back inside. “Fang Nico is back!” She called, and let us in. As I stepped into the home I saw Fang skidding into the room making me laugh. “Glad to see me huh?” I asked. Fang looked away and rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. “I was just worried, a lot of scenarios kept playing through my head everyday you didn’t show up.” He said.

I chuckled. “Well I just today got out of the infirmary, I told one hell of a story when asked what happened because I didn’t want to explain the Eraser thing.” I said. Also I needed to explain how I got so exhausted and that was real fun to explain. I ended up saying something about a whole bunch of skeletons and a flock of Griffins to explain it. It was funny to see how my story effected the staff in the Camp Jupiter infirmary. Fang seemed glad that I appeared to be okay even as Max came over with a bag. “Here’s the clothes you came in with. They’ve been washed and dried and everything.” She said. I smiled and passed her the bag I had with the clothes they gave me. “Thanks. “ I said.

I opened the bag and pulled out my jacket, taking off the one they gave me and putting on my own. Once it was on I grabbed the one they gave me and held it out to Fang, I remembered that Nudge told me it was an old one of his so I thought he should have it back. However as I held it out Fang put his hand on it and then pushed it towards me. “I don’t need it anymore so you can have it.” He said. I blinked and looked at him, pulling the jacket closer to me. “Are you sure? I do have other jackets just not with me.” I said. Fang nodded. “Yeah kid, you can have it. I have plenty just like it.” He said.

I smiled at the him and put the jacket over my arm and looked at the older boy. “Thanks. We should get going now though.” I said. Fang nodded although he looked upset. “Alright, stay safe kid.” He said. I nodded and we turned and left. As we left Hazel looked at me. “Fang seemed really worried about you.” She said. I nodded. “Yeah, but what can we do about it? At least Fang is okay along with the others.” I said. However after a bit Frank shouted. “Chimera!” He yelled. Automatically we dove for cover, I watched as the Chimera appeared in front of our hiding place.

It sniffed around and then lifted it’s head, sniffing again. It then roared and began running. When it disappeared from sight I stood up as I looked at the direction it went. Frank stood up as well. “Where is it going? We’re the only demigods for miles.” He said. I suddenly realized something, I had been wearing Fang’s jacket while coming here. Therefore I had been carrying Fang’s scent with me. I jumped up and looked at the direction it went, I recognized the way right away. “It’s going after Fang!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos if you liked and comment your thoughts, they help motivate me to write.


	4. To and from

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico doesn't like when people get caught up in something that could have been avoided. Which is why he's determined to save Fang and his family from the Chimera.

_ Nico’s POV _

_ No no no, not Fang. He shouldn’t be caught up in this because of me. _ I thought as I ran, my heart pounding as I pushed myself to run towards the house I had just left. Hazel, Frank, and Jason ran with me as I ran for the house. Frank already had his bow out and Jason had his sword, it would take all of us to take out a Chimera even if we managed to gain the upper hand. The house finally came into view and I saw the broken door right away. “Oh no.” I said. I pushed myself to run faster and managed to get to the door and into the house. The scene I was greeted with was chaos.

Iggy was yelling and shouting, seeming to try and get the Chimera’s attention. Max was grabbing anything she could and throwing it at the Chimera. Nudge was holding onto Angel and the other little boy who I hadn’t learned the name of yet and was doing her best to keep them out of harms way. Fang was having the worse time, the Chimera was on top of him and trying to bite him but he was managing to hold it off by using a broom handle to keep it’s maw away from him, he was somehow also holding off the snake tail by holding it back with his shoe.

“Hey ugly! Leave him alone!” I shouted, summoning my sword to my hands. The Chimera turned to me but at the same time so did Fang. “Nico get out of here!” He shouted at me. I didn’t look at him and fell into a fighting stance, the Chimera growled as it realized I was really what it was hunting and stepped off Fang. I nodded. “That’s right ugly, I’m the one you’re looking for.” I said. The Chimera howled and leaped at me, I jumped out of the way at the last second and it skidded outside. With it outside I ran out after it, the others had surrounded it by the time I got outside. 

I knew the tail was the deadliest part so I swung my sword and sliced it off in one smooth slice. The Chimera roared and swung around on me, I didn’t have the time to duck before it swiped at me with it’s claws, I was knocked back and fell onto the porch. I sat up and gripped my sword as Frank shot arrows at the Chimera and Jason and Hazel tried to keep it busy. As I got up I saw Nudge attempting to come outside. I looked at her. “Stay inside! We’ve got this just stay inside!” I told her. Nudge looked at me but she creeped back in, pulling Angel and the boy with her.

I turned back to the Chimera and leaped back into battle, stabbing my sword into an eye of the goat head on it’s back. I barely managed to get out of there as it breathed fire in response, my arm burned with pain as I hadn’t managed to get out unscaved and there was a sizable burn on my arm. As I pulled back and began planning my next attack I saw Fang trying to get outside, Nudge was the only thing holding him back. I turned to the boy. “Fang I’ve got this! Stay inside!” I yelled. I saw Fang’s lip curl back. “No! Let me help!” He yelled back. 

I ducked a strick from the Chimera and used my sword to keep it from biting me. “Do that by staying inside! I can’t fight and worry about you at the same time!” I snapped. I heard Nudge talking then. “Please Fang, let them handle this.” She said. I twisted my sword around and managed to slice through the Chimera’s tongue making it back up and roar in rage. I barely managed to get out of the way as a blast of fire hit where I had been previously. I rolled over and got onto my feet, facing the Chimera as more arrows filled it’s back, Frank was hitting dead on but it was almost like it didn’t bother the Chimera as it steadily turned into a porcupine. 

Hazel leaped forward and managed to slice off one of the goat head’s ears making it turn and blast fire at her but she managed to get out of the way before that. I didn’t know how it was still alive but still I swung my sword as it came at me. I sliced into it’s paw but that didn’t stop it from knocking me off my feet for the second time. This time when I was knocked down my grip of my sword was lose and it skidded away from me when I fell. I managed to turn to see it as it charged at me, now defenseless I tried to scramble away from it but one of my legs was hurt and I fell again. When I turned to see it charge at me I saw Fang leap onto it’s back with my sword in his hand.

Before I could yell at him he plunged it into the Chimera’s neck. The sword actually went through its neck and came out the other side, Fang hanged onto the sword as the Chimera began to stumble and finally fell down. Fang pulled out the sword and the Chimera turned to dust, dead. I managed to get to my feet and when I looked over I saw Fang running over to me, he still held my sword in his hand. “Nico are you okay?” He asked. I glared at the older boy. “You shouldn’t have done that! We had it covered, you could have been hurt!” I said. Fang looked at me. “What was I supposed to do when a literal monster was charging at you!” He said. I frowned as I had been hoping Fang hadn’t truly seen the Chimera for what it was.

My focus was turned away from it however and I grimaced, holding my arm where it was burned. Fang grabbed it and looked at it, i knew it was bad just from the pain and how it looked. Fang lead me inside and I looked about at the others, they followed. The living room was destroyed but Max had already righted the couch and fixed it as best as she could by the time we came in. Nudge was putting out a few fires and Iggy was walking around with his hands out, tapping his feet on the floor. Any time he came across something he adjusted it and put it in it’s right place, I guessed Iggy was pretty good at telling where everything should be since he needed to know with his blindness. 

Fang sat me down on the righted couch and let me take off my jacket before he looked at my arm. Max saw the burn and hissed. “Jeez, that’s bad. Let me get the first aid kit.” She said. Before she left Jason waved his hands. “It’s okay, we have one of our own.” He said. Jason took out the first aid kit we had and passed it to Fang, Max still left and came back with an ice pack. She gave it to Fang and he put it on my burn, it actually made it feel better as Fang looked through the first aid kit to locate the bandages. I held the ice there as Fang took a minute before finally finding the bandages. 

I took the ice off and Fang used disinfectant to clean the burn before wrapping it with the bandages. Fang then took care of my leg that had some cuts on it before pulling back and looking at his handy work. “Alright, much better.” He said. I looked at Nudge as she walked over, she was holding my sword and handed it to me. I smiled and took it, setting it down so it wouldn’t hurt anyone. I noticed at she looked guilty and turned to her. “Hey, you did your best. No one is going to blame you for what happened.” I said. Nudge looked at me and after a bit smiled nervously. “Okay, how are you feeling?” She asked. 

I smiled. “That was nothing, I’ve gotten smacked around much more than that. I’ll be okay.” I said. Fang looked at me from where he was cleaning a cut on Hazel’s arm. “You looked pretty bad back there, you sure about that?” He asked. I nodded, getting up from the couch. “Yeah I’ll be alright. Like I said I’ve been smacked around more than that.” I said. Jason nodded. “Yeah Nico is pretty tough, he can bounce back from something like that pretty well.” He said. I lifted my arm and looked at the burn. “Yeah but this burn is probably going to leave a scar though. Not the first honestly.” I said. 

“How did you get that one?” Nudge asked, pointing at my forearm. I looked and saw the scars I got from fighting the werewolf king. I looked away from the girl. “Um, wolf attack.” I said. I mean it was kinda true so what else could I say? Angel immediately giggled causing me to look at her. “What’s so funny?” I asked. Angel giggled and smiled sweetly. “Nothing~” She said. I didn’t believe her and narrowed my eyes at her. However I suddenly found myself chasing down her brother, Gazzy I was told his name was, as he had my sword. “You put that down young man before you get cut! That’s a dangerous piece of weaponry!” I shouted at him. 

Gazzy laughed as I continued to chase him, I heard the rest laughing as I tried to get this deadly weapon from this child. Eventually I stopped and turned to Max. “Aren’t you going to help me?! That sword is no joke, he could get hurt!” I said. Max laughed and looked at Gazzy. “Alright Gazzy, give Nico the sword. Clearly he doesn’t want you getting hurt.” She said. Gazzy actually relented and gave me the sword and I automatically put it away, meaning I flicked my wrist and it turned into a tattoo on my wrist. I only realized that I had done this when Gazzy pounced on me. “Woah do that again!” He said. I grunted as I lifted the twelve year old up. “Holy Hera you’re heavy. Come on get off, I’m injured remember? Off you get.” I said, easily shaking the boy off.

“Nico what was that?” Max asked. I looked away from her, rubbing the back of my neck. How could I explain that without giving away that I was a demigod? I still was unsure what to do since I wasn’t sure if the Chimera had attacked Fang because I had his scent on me and it got confused about who it was tracking or if it had targeted Fang for a different reason like he was a demigod as well. But him, Max, and Iggy were all the same age as Percy and he had been attacked by a monster when he was more Gazzy’s age so how did these guys avoid attracting attention if Fang was a demigod?

I was about to dismiss the question all together when Jason turned to me. “Hey Nico, we’ve got trouble.” He said. I walked over to the window to see what Jason meant and I tried to hold back the swears that wanted to spill out. A whole flock of griffins was heading right for us. “What the hell, one is reasonable but a whole flock?” I asked. Jason looked at them. “They’re definitely attracted here by something, something strong.” He said. I glanced back at Fang and his family as Fang had stood up and was walking over to us.

“You think about six demigods, three near adults, would be enough?” I asked. Jason looked up and then looked at the griffins. “I’d say so.” He said. I swore under my breath as Frank looked out the window with us. “We need to get them out of here.” He said. I nodded and was a little startled when Fang appeared behind me to look out the window. The older boy’s eyes widened almost immediately. “Um… am I seeing things or are those griffins?” He asked.  _ Yeah, Fang can definity see through the Mist. _ I thought. “Yeah, we’ve gotta go.” I said.

“Are you sure you should be leaving so soon?” Max asked. I looked at her. “We includes you guys too, we’ve all got to clear out.” I said. Iggy tilted his head. “Does it have anything to do with the large amount of screeching and wing flapping I keep hearing?” He asked. Hazel nodded and grabbed Iggy’s hand. “Probably, come on. We really should go.” She said. I grabbed Fang’s hand and started to pull him out the door but he looked at me. “Nico where are we going?” He asked. I sighed. “Look if what’s happening really is than we’ve got a river to cross. Let’s go before they get here.” I said. 

Fang looked at me but he and the rest started to follow as we began to go towards camp. For a moment I thought it was fine and we could get there and test to see if any of these kids were in fact demigods or not but then Iggy spoke. “Um, that screeching is louder and that flapping is really close now.” He said. I looked up and I saw the griffins getting far too close for comfort. “Alright guys, it’s time to run now!” I said. I shoved Gazzy forward and we all began to run. It was easy for me to keep up with the group but Jason, Hazel, and Frank had a little trouble but they weren’t in the griffin’s range luckily. 

We got to the little Tiber and I thought we were safe. I turned to the others. “Come on! Cross the river!” I yelled. Max charged forward, holding Angel’s hands and crossing the river with her. Hazel ran with Iggy, guiding the blind boy across the river and to safety on the other side. Jason pulled Gazzy with him, taking him to his sister on the other side. Frank grabbed Fang’s hand and began to try and pull him to the other side but he dug his heels in. “What about Nico!” He asked. I growled and shoved Fang forward. “Go! I’ll be right behind you! Don’t be stubborn!” I said.

Fang looked at me but this time he went with Frank and crossed the river. I then grabbed Nudge and pushed her in front of me. She understood right away and we began to run across the river. I thought that maybe we could get across without incident but then I was knocked into the water, I gasped as I got up, Nudge already had two griffins surrounding her but she was managing to swing at them and keep them at bay. I got up and summoned my sword to my hand, swinging at the first griffin. It had been focused on Nudge so it hadn’t noticed me get up and my sword cut right through one of the griffin’s wings, it fell into the river and screeched, getting up and snarling at me. I summoned a dagger I had and tossed it to Nudge. “Aim for vital organs!” I instructed her. 

I swung my sword and cut the griffin’s face, before it could pounce on me an arrow flew through the air and buried itself in its heart, it crumbled to gold dust a few moments later. I turned to check on Nudge just as she buried my dagger into the griffin’s eye, it crumbled to dust almost right after. I put my sword away and grabbed Nudge’s arm, I pulled her the rest of the way across the river. Rejoining the rest was great, Max hugged Nudge and made sure she was okay and checked on everyone else, I could see why Angel referred to her as the group mom. 

Fang immediately turned his attention to me. “Nico are you alright?” He asked. I laughed. “I’m fine, just wet now.” I said. Angel giggled. “Like when I first found you!” She said. I laughed. “Yes, just like when you found me.” I said. I knew the whole flock of griffins circling the river would draw attention so I wasn’t surprised when Percy ran up on top of Black Jack. Of course Fang continued to prove his ability to see through the Mist. “That horse has wings, I’m not crazy right that horse has wings.” He said.

Max blinked as she looked at Black Jack. “Yeah that horse has wings.” She said. I huffed. “Welcome to my world.” I said. Percy stopped Black Jack and got off, running over to us. “Okay can I ask what the Hades happened to you guys? Nico’s wet and you guys gained six people since you left.” He said. Of course Percy was questioning everything. I sighed. “Yeah, this wasn’t planned trust me.” I said. Fang looked at me. “Um Nico, what’s going on?” He asked. I sighed and got ready to explain. “It goes kinda like this.” I then spread my arms out. “Congratulations! One of you’re parents happens to be a god!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This you liked leave a kudos or comment your thoughts, both help motivate me to write.


	5. Welcome to Camp Jupiter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The flock sure in surprised but Fang has other concerns

_ Fang’s POV _

“Congratulations! One of you’re parents happens to be a god!” Nico said this like he was used to telling people about this and was so done doing it. I looked at the new guy and then Nico. “Are you serious?” I asked. Nico nodded. “Dead serious, and that’s not a pun.” He said, immediately glaring at the new boy when he snickered. I blinked and looked at the small boy as he stood there in soaking wet clothes and wet hair. “So is this what you were hiding?” I asked. Nico nodded. “Yup, didn’t know how to explain that I’m the son of a god if you weren’t going to believe me.” He said. Nico seemed rather quick to blame his family on the reason he was hiding something. I raised my eyebrow at the boy. “And you couldn’t just tell us that?” I asked.

“I couldn’t just tell you about that when I wasn’t sure if you were a part of this world. Why would I tell you about that when you shouldn’t know?” Nico said. I guess that made sense but still it felt like this kid was hiding more than his parentage from us. “Well this sure is shocking.” I said. Nico sighed. “Yeah I realize this is shocking but imagine being a little kid when you learn this and-” Nico had to cut himself off.

“Woah that’s so cool! Who’s your mom?! Who’s your dad?!” Gazzy asked, pouncing on Nico for the second time today. Nico grunted and looked at me. “Well, let’s just say my reaction as a ten year old kid is very much like this. Alright stinker off you get, injured remember?” He said, managing to push Gazzy off him. Nudge looked at him. “Um, so who is your mom and dad?” She asked. Nico looked at her. “Um well my mom was a mortal, my dad is a god. Demigods are like natural hybrids, resulting from one mortal parent and one godly parent.” He said.

Jason nodded. “Yeah, you only ever have one godly parent and one mortal parent when it comes to demigods. There are some cases were it’s multiple generations but most demigods hardly survive the teen years.” He said. I looked at the new boy as he walked over to us. “So what is this place?” I asked. The new boy turned and pointed, not far from us was what appeared to be a fort of some kind. “Camp Jupiter, a Roman camp for demigods.” He said. I tilted my head. “Roman?” I asked. 

“Yeah, there are multiple kinds of gods and some of them don’t mix well. So there’s different camps, like for example there’s the Greek camp Camp Half-Blood on Long Island.” Hazel said. I raised an eyebrow at this. “That’s on two different sides of the country.” I said. Nico nodded. “Yeah, makes paying each other a visit a huge pain in the butt.” He said. Max looked at them two. “I thought you two were siblings?” She asked. Nico nodded. “Oh we are, we have the same father it’s just different versions. My father is the Greek god Hades the god of the underworld, Hazel’s father is Pluto the Roman version of Hades.” He said. 

Frank nodded. “Yeah, they’re basically the same thing so they’re still brother and sister. They just prefer different camps, Nico prefers Camp Half-Blood while Hazel is more at home here at Camp Jupiter.” He said. I looked at Nico and Hazel, if I hadn’t been told they were sibling I would have never guessed the two were related. Nico was white with black hair and brown eyes while Hazel was black with cinnamon hair and golden eyes, they were so different it was almost impossible to think they were siblings but they both claimed they were half siblings so I believed them. Nudge turned to Nico and raised an eyebrow. “Hades huh? So like dead stuff?” She asked. Nico groaned. “Don’t remind me, being the son of Hades is a pain.” He said.

“Why do you say that?” Nudge asked. Nico looked at her. “Well I make a lot of people uncomfortable because of my death aura and honestly who isn’t uncomfortable in the presence of death? It’s weird being the son of Hades, honestly when my dad appears I have to resist the urge to kick him in the groin and run away laughing.” He said. Nudge giggled at that and Nico just barely began to smile, it seems the two had connected in a way and would be good friends in time. Gazzy of course leaped on Nico again and began asking him tons of questions. “Can you summon skeletons to scare monsters away? Can you do the same for zombies? Can you kill people by looking at them?” 

Nico eventually had enough of this and pushed Gazzy off him before looking at him. “Alright look Gazzy, there’s a thing with touching me. Don’t. I don’t like touching, so I would like it if you would stop jumping on me okay? As for your questions yes to the first two, I can summon skeletons and zombies to fight for me. And the third? I can drain someone’s life force but I have to touch them and it has to be skin to skin contact okay?” He said. Gazzy nodded and clasped his hand behind his back, looking at Nico. The new boy was raising his eyebrow. “Gazzy?” He asked. Max jumped in. “That’s a nickname we call him, his actual name is Jack.” She said.

Nico was immediately looking at me and I realized that we had never bothered to use a fake name with him or his sister or friends when they came by the house. How would I explain this sudden thing to him? Nico didn’t say anything though and looked at the boy. “Wheren’t Reyna Percy? I thought for sure she would come check out what was going on.” He said. The boy, Percy I now knew, looked at Nico and spoke. “Yeah she would have if she was here, when you took off she decided to pay Camp Half-Blood a visit so she’s going there. She left me in charge until Frank go back.” He said. Percy than looked at me. “So what’s your name?” He asked.

“It’s Nick.” I said. I could feel Nico’s eyes burning into the side of my head, I ready didn’t want to explain why I was giving Percy a fake name. Nudge stepped up. “I’m Katie.” She said. Nico’s eyes shifted to her and I could tell she felt his gaze as her smile turned a bit nervous and she glanced back at Nico. Angel stepped up. “I’m Angelica.” She said. Now that seemed reasonable for Nico and he didn’t turn his eyes to Angel and looked back at me. Max looked at Percy. “I’m Max.” She said. Iggy put a hand on Max’s shoulder so he knew where she was before speaking. “Jeff.” He said. I’m not sure if Iggy felt Nico’s gaze on him but if he did he made no comment on it. 

Percy seemed to notice Nico’s gaze though but said nothing. Percy then looked back at the gate. “Alright, let’s get you guys inside.” He said. As we began to walk Nico suddenly grabbed my wrist. The young boy then turn to Percy. “You guys go ahead, I want to talk to  **Nick** for a minute.” He said, I could hear Nico’s teeth grind slightly as he said the name. Percy nodded and kept the rest moving, as soon as they were out of earshot Nico looked at me. “Um, excuse me??? Nick? Katie? Angelica? Jeff? Jack? Mind explaining why most of you gave Percy different names than the ones you gave me??” He asked.

“Angel can easily be shortened from Angelica.” I said, it was weak and Nico knew it. The boy glared. “Yeah but that doesn’t explain why you gave me Fang and Percy Nick.” He said. I sighed. “Look how can I explain such a strange name? Do you really think he’d believe me if I said my name was Fang?” I asked. Nico eyes were burning into me. “You’re dodging this.” He said. I groaned. “Look we just don’t trust that easily, it’s easier to give a fake name than trust everyone with our real names. Plus Nick looks better on a school form than Fang.” I said. 

Nico glared but let me go. “Okay, I’ll let this slide for not but I’m not forgetting this. I’m still calling you Fang by the way.” He said. I smiled nervously. “Just call me that in private or at least around people who know.” I said. Nico huffed. “Yeah yeah, whatever. Let’s go, you’ve gotta know your way around camp before Percy finishes giving the tour.” He said. So I followed Nico to the gates and entered Camp Jupiter for the first time.

* * *

“I could certainly get used to this!” Gazzy said, digging into dinner as we sat at a table apart from Nico and his group which included Percy and his sister. Max looked at Gazzy. “Guys let’s not forget about one of the people who brought us here.” She said. Nudge looked at Max with a spoon in her mouth. “Um, you mean Nico right?” She asked. Max nodded. “Exactly, that kid is still hiding something. Probably from everyone, but why?” She asked. I looked over to where Nico was, the boy was sitting with his sister and friends and I finally realized something. “Nico’s pretty tall, almost the same height as Nudge.” I said. Nudge blinked and looked at Nico, realizing as well. “You’re right. I’m only like three or four inches taller than him.” She said.

“So does Nico have some connection to the school?” Iggy asked. Nudge frowned. “I don’t know, Nico sometimes mentions his mother. Almost like he knew her, if he is connected would he really know his mother?” She asked. I thought about it and realized something else, Nico was afraid of Erasers. Sure he claimed anyone would be afraid if confronted with that but I remembered the first time when I pushed the boy behind me. Nico was shaking so much, trembling in fear and eyes wide with terror, he was scared to death of Erasers.

But the Chimera, I remember looking at Nico and seeing how steady the boy was, hands steady and posture sure, eyes hard with determination, waiting steadily for the last second before leaping out of the way of the Chimera, not flinching when it’s claws came so close to his head. Nico wasn’t afraid of the Chimera, not even a little bit, he was ready to throw down with the beast and he did, he was prepared to kill it too. “Nico was afraid of the Erasers, but with the Chimera he didn’t flinch and was ready to fight it.” I said. Max looked at me but nodded. “You’re right, Nico was shaking in his boots when he was faced with the Erasers but with the Chimera he had nerves of steel.” She said.

“He was calm when he went to get Hazel.” Gazzy said. I shook my head. “He appeared calm but he was still scared to death, I could see it in his eyes. That type of unreasonable fear has to come from somewhere.” I said. Nudge hummed and then looked at Nico. “What if he was taught to fear Erasers?” She asked. Max raised an eyebrow. “Explain.” She demanded.

“Nico mentions his mother pretty offhandedly and says almost nothing about her but he’s pretty open about who his father is so here’s my theory. His mother is the one with the connection to the school, she escapes. Nico uses some Italian phrases so she probably fled to Italy. She meets Hades and has his son and her mutations pass to him.” Nudge said. I nodded, following Nudge’s line of thinking. “She doesn’t want her kid to go through what she did so she teaches him how to hide and to fear Erasers if he ever runs into one. Probably taught him all the tricks she knows.” I said.

“Then we can maybe talk to Nico’s mom.’ Max said. Nudge frowned. “I don’t think we can, Nico referred to his mom in the past tense but he spoke about his dad in the present tense. Something probably happened to her.” She said. I sighed and looked at Nico from where he sat. “Only one way to find out…” I muttered. I stood up and walked over to where he was. I leaned down to speak to Nico. “Hey, can we talk privately?” I asked. Nico nodded. “Of course  _ Nick _ .” He said. He chewed on the name like it offended him. But still he stood up and walked with me to stand outside the mess hall.

“I know you’re suspicious about why I gave Percy a fake name but come on Nico. I just want to ask you about one thing. Where’s your mother?” I asked. Nico face twisted and I knew right away I was starting to lose his trust. “My mother died when I was eight, killed by Zeus. I barely remember her.” He said. I sighed. “Nico please, you don’t have to lie to me. I want to help you.” I said. Nico exploded then. “You don’t want to help me! No one does! They just want to use me! Just like everyone, just like you!’ He said.

“Nico no! I want to help I really do, if you don’t want to tell me fine but don’t lump me in with them.” I said. Nico frowned. “What are you talking about?” He asked. I sighed. “The people your mother told you about, the ones she warned you to avoid. The same people who made the Erasers.” I said. Nico actually looked surprised by this information. I frowned. “You didn’t know where them came from didn’t you?” I asked. Nico blinked sighed, looking away. “I’m done talking Fang, I’m sorry. I’m not saying anything else, I just don’t want to talk about it anymore.” He said.

I sighed as I watched Nico return to the table he had been sitting at, I returned to the rest of the flock and sighed. “Well Nico’s mom is dead, said she was killed by Zeus. When I pressed he blew up, said I just wanted to use him like everyone else. Whatever his mother taught him it still holds up today.” I said, I was worried that I was starting to make Nico pull away but when I noticed Nico coming over. I looked at him and the boy sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Hey, I’m sorry for what I said, I know you’re just trying to understand me and everything. I just don’t trust people so easily. Also I should let you know me, Jason, and Percy are going to head to Camp Half-Blood tomorrow. Do you guys want to come? You might learn who your parents are.” He said.

I nodded. “I don’t see a problem with that. How about you Max?” I asked. Max looked at Nico and shrugged. “Eh, I don’t see why not. But we should get our stuff from the house.” She said. Nico nodded. “Me and Jason will come with you, just to insure you don’t get attacked by any monsters.” He said. Max nodded and we watched as Nico left, I watched as he returned to the table and spoke with Jason who nodded after a bit and spoke as well. They were probably talking about returning to the house with us to get our stuff. Percy looked at the two and spoke as well, he didn’t seem happy about this.

I sighed and continued to eat, clearly someone didn’t trust us very much. Then again I was certainly losing Nico’s trust by questioning him, what could I do to regain his trust and let him know I wasn’t a threat to him? Honestly all I could think was to let Nico come to me, let him realize I could be trusted and he could talk to me. But of course that would probably take a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed leave a kudos or comment.


	6. Camp Half-Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's off to camp Half- Blood with the flock

_ Fang’s POV _

“This is where you guys live? Talk about remote.” Percy said, looking at the house. I shrugged. “No one messes with you when it’s hard to find you.” I said. Percy huffed, looking around. “So how did Nico find you?” He asked. I looked at him. “He didn’t, Angel found him. He was soaking wet so she brought him home so he could get a change of clothes.” I said. Percy blinked but followed me inside the house. I walked into my room and opened my closet, picking up my bag that laid inside. 

“Prepared much?” Percy asked. I shrugged. “We move around a lot so we all always have a bag packed for when we have to move again.” I said. Percy still didn’t look very trusting of me but honestly I expected that, as I exited my room I looked at him. “Hey, you have a godly parent right? Who is it?” I asked. Percy blinked and glanced around before looking at me. “Poseidon, god of the sea.” He said. I blinked. “Aren’t Hades and Poseidon brothers?” I asked.

“Yup.” Percy said. I tilted my head at him. “So that makes you Nico’s cousin right? What do you know about his family life?” I asked. Percy huffed and shrugged. “We don’t really think about it too hard, almost everyone is related in some way if you think about it too much. And as for Nico’s family life I know almost nothing, I only meet his sister for a little while before she died and Nico doesn’t remember much of his childhood.” He said. I was surprised when I heard this. “Sister? What sister? I’m assuming you’re not talking about Hazel.” I said.

“Nico didn’t tell you about Bianca? She was his older sister, full blooded too. Same mom and dad. Bianca talked about their family as much as Nico does. She died on a quest the same year I met the two, I’m pretty sure Nico is still grieving because he wears pretty much all black.” Percy said. I looked at him. “So you didn’t know her very well? While you were with her did it ever seem like she was hiding something?” I asked. Percy looked at the ceiling. “I don’t think so? Honestly it was years ago, I don’t remember what we talked about very well, maybe Grover could tell you.” He said.

“Where is Grover?” I asked. Percy looked at me. “He’ll probably be at Camp Half-Blood. You can talk to him there.” He said. I nodded and as we got close to the door I heard Nico and Jason talking, I put my hand in front of Percy making him stop and I listened to what they were saying.

“Are you sure you don’t want Will to take a look once we get back? Maybe it’ll help.” Jason said. I heard Nico sigh. “No, it’s fine. I can deal, it’s just sore a bit it’s fine.” He said.

“Nico you keep rubbing your shoulders are you sure it’s okay?” Jason asked. Nico sighed. “Yes Jason, my shoulders get sore sometimes it’s fine. I know what to do to get relief it’s fine.” He said. 

“If you know what to do then why aren’t you doing it?” Jason asked. Nico almost sounded nervous when he answered. “I’ll need more room… plus I can do it any time and I don’t want to right now. And it takes a lot of energy out of me, I don’t want to get tired during the trip.” He said. It sounded like Nico was making excuses but why would he hide something from Jason who he seemed to trust? I looked at Percy and he blinked at me, clearly he wasn’t thinking the same thing as me and I sighed, he couldn’t help me understand Nico’s actions. 

Percy and I walked out and saw Nico and Jason leaning against the wall, Jason turned to us right away. “Hey, Percy don’t you think Nico should talk to Will about his shoulder problems?” He asked. Percy looked at Nico. “You have shoulder problems?” He asked. Nico huffed and reached up to his shoulder to rub it almost absentmindedly. “It’s nothing, their just a little sore is all. I know how to take care of it.” He said. Jason looked at me and I turned to Nico. “I don’t know Nico, maybe you should see someone about it. If this is a constant problem you have.” I said. Nico huffed, still rubbing his shoulder. “It’s fine, it’s not a big deal honestly. It’s just a bit sore.” He said. 

Nico seemed pretty insistent that this wasn’t a big deal and that he didn’t have to see anyone about it but if it was me and I had constant shoulder pain or they were constantly sore I would tell someone about it or try to do something about it. However Nico seemed pretty stubborn so I figured there was nothing I could do to convince him to talk to this Will person. Speaking of which… “I have to ask who’s Will?” I asked. Jason immediately turned teasing to Nico. “Oh just Nico’s boyfriend.” He said with a smirk.

“He’s not my boyfriend. I just went on a few dates with him, and Nick he’s a son of Apollo, he works in the camp infirmary so he or one of his siblings usually helps out if someone is injured.” Nico said, a very light blush on his face. Jason snickered. “Yeah and you’re always in the infirmary.” He said. Ncio’s blush deepened but he glared. “I just get hurt a lot and he insists on doing monthly check ups on me since I have trouble with my weight. And the only reason I went on those dates was because I wanted him to stop bugging me about going out with him. I’m still not sure if I even want to date him or not.” He said. 

“So you’re gay?” Nudge asked, coming out of the house. Nico immediately began to blush again, after a bit he cleared his throat and looked away from her. “Bi actually… I just prefer guys over girls. I don’t like trying to explain my romantic preference sometimes.” He said. Nudge nodded. “Oh, okay. That’s cool, so do you like this Will guy?” She asked. Nico looked at her and shrugged. “Honestly I’m not sure I do, he’s a bit annoying but he is kinda cute I guess.” He said.

“Well if you don’t date him maybe I will.” Nudge said jokingly. Nico chuckled and looked at Nudge. “Honestly I’m not sure if he’ll like you, i think he told me he’s straight up gay.” He said. Nudge raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t you mean  _ not _ straight?” She asked. Nico put his hand over his mouth and I heard a snort escape the boy. “Oh my gods. That pun was horrible.” He said but I could see a smile behind his hand. 

“Oh come on, it got a chuckle out of you.” Nudge said, walking over and nudging Nico’s shoulder. The boy let out a startled laugh. “Yeah but that doesn’t change the fact it was horrible!” He said. I smiled at the two as Nudge kept saying gay or bi puns and Nico shoved her and told her just how horrible her puns were even though he was smiling and laughing. Max exited the house and saw the two and smiled, she clearly saw how well the two got along with their easy banter. 

After a moment Nico stopped shoving Nudge around and turned to see that the rest had come out and had everything we would need. With that in mind he turned to face us. “Alright, let’s get going.” He said. Nudge grinned. “Maybe we’ll see the bi flag at sunset.” She said. Nico looked at her. “I swear to all the gods stop with the puns before I throw you in a river.” He said. Nudge blinked but grinned. “Hey, maybe I’ll see some gay fish while I’m there.” She said. Nico put his face in his hands but I could see he was trying to hold in the laughter. This would be a long trip.

* * *

“Okay so really, how did you figure out you like guys?” Nudge asked. Nico hummed and looked at the ground. “I think I’ve always known, is that weird? I don’t think I have a solid time when it just hit me that I like guys.” He said. Nudge nodded and looked at Nico. “So when did Will start bugging you about going out?” She asked. Nico snorted. “Um, well I have powers, all demigods do. And when I over use them it’s bad for my health, when that happened he insisted I stay in the infirmary to recover for a while. After I got out he started asking about maybe going on a date, I guess he realized I liked guys somehow. That’s pretty much it.” He said. 

“Wow, I’ve never heard Nico talk so much.” Jason said to me. Percy looked at him. “You didn’t meet him when he was younger, he was just as chatty as Nudge is when he was ten.” He said. I looked at Percy. “Really?” I asked. Percy nodded. “Yeah, after a while I wanted to put him in a meat flavored sack and throw him to the wolves. Kid drove me up the wall.” He said. Nico turned to glare at the boy. “Hey what was your reaction to learning you’re a demigod?” He asked.

“Not yours that’s for sure. I swear no one was as excited as you were.” Percy said. I looked at Percy. “What about Bianca? What was her reaction?” I asked. Before Percy could answer Nico bumped into me. “Hang on, who told you about Bianca?” He asked. I looked at the boy. “Um, Percy did? He mentioned her while we were getting my stuff.” I said. Percy nodded and looked at Nico. “Yeah I did, I didn’t see a big deal with telling him about your sister Neeks. He already knows Hazel.” He said.

“Bianca is a different matter than Hazel! You shouldn’t have told him anything!” Nico snapped, he was almost yelling. I reacted immediately and put a hand on Nico’s shoulder, afraid he would hit Percy. “Hey he didn’t tell me much Nico, just told me she existed. Honest, why are you so upset?” I asked. Nico looked at me, he looked close to tears. “My sister is my business, it doesn’t matter. He shouldn’t just tell you things.” He said. With that Nico jerked away from me and started walking again, not even looking up as Nudge jogged to catch up with him and began talking to him. This time he didn’t say anything back to her.

Percy looked at me after a bit. “Sorry, I really shouldn’t have mentioned anything. I thought Nico had told you about her while you two were talking the other day and I was surprised when you didn’t know about her. Nico really should have told you himself.” He said. I sighed. “It’s okay Percy, I probably shouldn’t have asked any questions about her. I think you’re right to say Nico is still grieving.” I said. Percy nodded. “Yeah, I think Bianca was his only family before he met Hazel. I just wish I could have done something for him or stopped her from dying.” He said. I sighed and looked at Nico, he was now sitting on the ground and Nudge was sitting in front of him talking. Getting to Camp Half-Blood would feel very long if this was how things continued.

* * *

“We’re almost there guys, soon we’ll be at camp!” Jason called up front, looking at us. I smiled, glad this trip was almost over. Nico had been in various moods since he learned that Percy told me about Bianca. Mostly he was sad, mostly quiet throughout the trip with nothing seeming to interest him, it took both Jason and Percy to get him to eat something which made me understand why he had weight problems.

Nico was sometimes mad, raging at Percy and swearing at the boy, the thing that interested me the most was that sometimes he would say he wished he had died instead of Bianca. Percy said nothing when Nico said this, he just waited out the younger boy and for him to return to his depressive mood. The very rare moods Nico had was happy, it was a tired kind of happy like he was coming out of his depression and could be happy for a moment. He would smile tiredly at Nudge as she did her best to cheer him up, sometimes he would comment on her jokes about how bad they were.

Right now Nico was in a pretty natural mood, not obviously sad but not happy either. He would sometimes glare at Percy but the older boy seemed pretty used to it. I looked at him as we kept walking. “Are you seriously going to just ignore Nico glaring holes into you?” I asked. Percy shrugged. “Honestly I don’t blame him for his rage, I kinda blame myself too. I’ll let Nico tell you why though.” He said. I sighed and looked at Nico, he wasn’t glaring at Percy now and instead was looking at Nudge who was talking to him about something. 

However as we were walking I heard something making me turn to look behind me. Percy seemed to notice and turned as well. “What is it Nick?” He asked me. I kept looking out, I could swear I was hearing something but I wasn’t sure what it was. That was when a man bolted out of the woods, he had goat horns poking out of his curly hair and his lower half was completely goat. He saw us and yelled. “Run!” He cried. 

Following him closely was something monstrous, huge and hulkling and with one eye in the center of it’s forehead. The smell hit me and it was bad, almost like a dumpster but worse somehow, Percy’s voice broke me from my frozen state. “Cyclops!” He yelled. I turned and ran, following Percy, Jason, and Nico as they ran towards a pine tree on a hill. I turned back to look behind me and saw the cyclops lumbering towards us. I yelped as I ran into Nico, sending us both to the ground, I honestly yelped. I managed to get up and turned to look behind me, the cyclops was so close I could almost smell it’s breath.

I raised my hand, almost to protect myself and felt a twist in my stomach. A pillar of black stone shot into the air, impaling the cyclops on it. I felt Nico’s hand on my and pull, I managed to pull myself to my feet and started to run, Nico pulling me along. My legs kept locking up and I kept stumbling which I found odd but still I was grateful that Nico was there, helping pull me along and keep me moving. I actually fell down near the top of the hill, Nico of course didn’t pause and kept pulling me. “Fang come on!” He said. I tried to get my feet back under me but my legs didn’t want to work and after a bit Nico pulled me forward and threw my arms over his shoulder. The younger boy than began to run again, dragging me with him.

I was suddenly very tired and as we reached the top of the hill I started to slip, as I was falling into unconsciousness I felt a pair of powerful hands loop around me and heard someone calling my name and then I was out.

* * *

“I think he’s waking up.”

“Nick? Nick? Come on Nick wake up.”

I groaned and managed to open my eyes, the first thing I was greeted with was Nico’s face, worry painting his features. I groaned and began to sti up, rubbing my eyes with my hand. “Huh? What happened?” I asked. I blinked and saw a glass enter my vision, I followed the hand holding it and saw a blonde male. He was probably only a few years younger than me, his blue eyes clear and bright, his tan skin painted with freckles and his blonde hair was curly. I took the glass and set it down, he was speaking now. “You passed out just as you crossed the border. Good thing too because that cyclops was hellbent on ending you. Had you passed out earlier I’m not sure if Nico would have been able to get you across.” He said.

“It didn’t die from that?” I asked, remembering the black stone impaling it. Nico shook his head. “Those things are pretty tough, it would have taken more to kill it.” He said. Nico then looked at the glass and pushed it towards me. I knew what he was telling me right away. “I’m not thirsty.” I said. Nico looked at me. “Drink, it’ll make you feel better. Trust me.” He said. I sighed and grabbed the glass, looking at the liquid inside. “What is it?” I asked. I looked at Nico and realized the boy was sitting on the bed I was on. 

“It’s neture, the drink of the gods. It heals demigods but we try to not drink too much.” Nico said. I looked at him. “And it’s safe?” I asked. Nico nodded. “I’ve drank it plenty of times. It’s okay to drink it.” He said. I looked at the drink and nodded, taking the straw and drinking it. I was surprised by the taste, I expected it to be sweet but it tasted like dark chocolate with a hint of honey almost. The blonde took it from me once I was done so I looked at Nico. “Are you okay? I know I fell on you.” I said. 

“Oh I’m okay, just a scrape on the knee, nothing I can’t handle. How do you feel?” Nico said. I realized that I felt stronger after drinking the neture and looked at Nico. “Better, have you always been able to summon huge pillars of black stone?” I asked. Nico blinked and I saw the blonde looking at us, I was confused but Nico looked at me seriously. “I can summon obsidian pillars but I didn’t summon that one, the one that impaled the cyclops.” He said. I tilted my head, why was he saying he wasn’t the one that summoned it? He was the son of Hades, he had powers and admitted that he could do it so I didn’t get why he was denying it was him. “Who else could have done it? Hazel is a Camp Jupiter and you are the son of Hades.” I said. 

“Yes I am but I didn’t summon the obsidian then.” Nico said. I huffed. “Then who did?” I asked. Nico looked at the blonde who nodded, then Nico looked at me. “Nick… that was you.” He said. I blinked, that was impossible. “That’s impossible, I’m sure I would know if I did something like that.” I said. Nico looked at me, frowning. “Nick… our powers… they sometimes react to our emotions. When I feel upset or down sometimes things start dying around me and when I’m surprised skeletons pop out of the ground. My point is that sometimes we use our powers without realizing it. The cyclops was charging at you, you were scared and shocked and your powers reacted.” He said. 

“There’s still no proof!” I said. Nico looked up, almost like he was seeing something above my head and then looked at me. “There is… Nick there is.” He said. I saw the blonde grab a mirror and he angled it at me, that was when I saw something above my head glowing. It looked like the symbol I saw on Hazel’s forearm, I looked up and saw it floating above my head. I reached up and started swatting at it but it just moved. “What the hell is this?” I asked. 

“It’s called claiming, it’s what our parents do to let us know who they are.” Nico said. I looked at the boy. “Well who’s is it?” I asked. Nico looked at the ground but after a bit he looked at me. “It’s the symbol of Hades.” He said. My mind reeled at this information, realizing what he was saying. Nico looked at me, a flicker of trust in his eyes. “Fang… we’re brothers.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed leave a kudos or comment your thoughts, until next time. Bye.


	7. The sons of Hades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Fang are brothers, most would think it would be hard for them to adjust to each other but Fang has experience being an older brother and knows what to do.

_ Nico’s POV _

Fang looked shocked, he kept looking at the ground, muttering to himself. I guessed he wasn’t used to even having family, all he had was the little group that he called his family, no true family. I left the infirmary to let the information sink in without me bothering him and saw Nudge sitting on the steps, she was playing with one of her braids. I sat down with her and she looked at me. “How is he?” She asked. 

“He’s up as far as his health goes. But he’s gonna need some time to get used to the idea we’re brothers.” I said. Nudge sighed and looked at the ground. “Honestly? I can’t believe it either, none of us have really had family before, just each other. It’s difficult to think that you’re his brother.” She said. I pulled my knees to my chest and crossed my arms over them. “Yeah, me too. I’ve always had sisters, never a brother. I never thought about the possibility that Fang could end up being a son of Hades like me and therefore be my brother.” I said. Nudge nodded, still fiddling with her braid. 

“Speaking of which, how is it in the Demeter cabin?” I asked. Nudge had been claimed by Demeter after she set foot in camp and she has spent some time in there getting to know her siblings. Fang has only been out since yesterday, I was kinda glad he was recovering pretty quickly. Nudge shrugged. “I went from having no siblings to having several, I’m not sure how to feel. It’s kinda overwhelming but they all seem nice.” She said.

“Just imagine how Max feels right now.” I said. Nudge smiled. “I bet she’s just glad she didn’t get some girly god.” She said. I laughed. “Yeah, she seems like a daughter of Ares to me.” I said. Max had been claimed as a daughter of Ares not long after she socked Travis for calling her a chick. I wasn’t surprised since she just seemed like a daughter of Ares to me and proved to everyone that she wasn’t a weak woman by not hesitating to sock Travis for insulting her by calling her a chick. 

After a bit Will came out of the infirmary and looked at us. “Hey, I’m confident in letting Nick out. He’s okay, shows no signs of injuries and also no signs his powers drained him too much.” He said. I nodded and stood up. “Thanks Will, I’ll get him. I think it’s only fair I show him around camp.” I said. Will nodded and he walked down the steps, Fang was the only one in the infirmary and since he had cleared Fang to leave he could get some other things done. 

I walked into the infirmary and saw Fang tugging on his shoes. “Hey, did you hear Will cleared you to leave?” I asked. Fang looked at me. “No, I was gonna leave if he cleared me regardless, I don’t want to be in here. Hate the smell.” He said. I blinked, all I could smell was disinfectant and other chemicals but was that really all it took to unsettle Fang? I decided to ask some other time and shrugged. “Well come on, I’m gonna show you around camp. Seems fair doesn’t it?” I asked. Fang looked at me, he still seems unsettled. “Um, yeah sure. I guess that’s fine.” He said. 

Fang stood up and I led him out of the infirmary, he looked around in awe as he saw camp for the first time and I understood that. I had been impressed when I first got to camp even though it was the dead of winter. I pointed to the Big House. “First stop, the Big House. That’s where the camp director and activities director are right now. It’s important to meet them.” I said. Fang nodded, looking more confident. “Lead the way.” He said. 

* * *

Getting to the Big House I saw Chiron and Mr. D sitting at the table on the porch playing poker with the freshly returned Grover. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the satyr but I was glad to see him nonetheless. As I approached with Fang Chiron, he looked up and smiled. “Ah, it seems you’ve awakened. I’m glad to see you up and walking.” He said. Fang blinked but I smiled and waved my hand at Chiron. “Nick this is Chiron, he’s the camp’s activities director. The guy wearing leopard print is Mr D, he’s the camp director. And I’m sure you recognize Grover.” I said.

Fang nodded. “Percy mentioned you, but I never expected you to be half goat.” He said. Grover smiled. “Yeah, I’m a satyr. You’ll see a few of us running around, bringing in new campers and doing other things. I’m actually the one who brought Percy to camp, him and I are best friends.” He said. Fang nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, if you don’t mind I kinda want to talk to you at some point about something.” He said. Grover nodded and I looked at Mr. D who was paying little attention to us. “Mr. D?” I asked.

“Hm? Oh, right. Welcome to camp I guess, good to see you’re not dead Fang.” Mr. D said. I blinked when Mr. D called him that but Fang looked absolutely panicked. I patted his shoulder and he looked at me. “It’s okay, he gets everyone’s name wrong.” I said. I then turned to Mr. D. “Hey Mr. D? What’s my name again?” I asked. Without hesitation he said “Nibbler Angeler.”. Grover however seemed to smell the fear on Fang, his nose twitching as he chewed on one of his cards.

Fang seemed to pick up on that he shouldn’t worry about this right now and looked at him. “So why does everyone call you Mr. D?” He asked. Mr. D looked at him. “Ah, I should probably introduce myself properly. Everyone calls me Mr. D but my name is Dionysus.” He said. Fang tilted his head. “As in the god of wine?” He asked, looking at the Diet Coke in his hand. Mr. D waved his hand. “Yeah yeah, not what you were expecting huh? I’m here babysitting all you barts because I pissed off Zeus, aka my father.” He said. Fang nodded and looked at me, begging for me to get him out of here. I looked at Chiron. “Well I’m gonna get Nick out of here and show him the rest of camp before taking him to the cabin.” I said. Chiron nodded and we walked away.

As soon as we were out of earshot Fan turned to me. “How did he know my name?” He hissed. I looked at him. “I don’t know, I introduced you as Nick and never said anything about Fang. With Will was the first time I called you Fang in camp besides around your group. But Mr. D is a god so maybe he knew it somehow.” I said. Fang frowned. “I really hope this doesn’t get out.” He said. I sighed but grabbed Fang’s hand. “Come on, I still have to show you around before I take you to the cabin so let’s go.” I said. Fang looked at me and nodded. “Okay, let’s go.” He said.

* * *

“So this is where we sleep?” Fang asked, looking around. I nodded, looking around the pretty much empty cabin. “Yup, cabin thirteen, aka the Hades cabin. We all have certain cabins because some kids of certain gods don’t get along.” I said. Fang nodded and walked in, looking around. I walked over to the bunk cross from mine and opened the trunk at its feet revealing Fang’s bag. “I put your stuff in here because I honestly didn’t know where you wanted to sleep.” I said.

“Thanks, where do you sleep?” Fang asked. I gestured to my bunk. “The only one that looks slept in, with Hazel at Camp Jupiter we’re the only ones here. There aren’t many of us, shocker considering the amount of kids in the Hermes and Demeter cabins.” I said. Fang nodded and patted his bed, lifting his pillow to check under it. “Why aren’t there more?” He asked. I sat down on my bunk, sighing. “Well you see there was a prophecy a few years ago. That involved a child of the big three which is Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon. To try and keep that prophecy from coming true they swore to not have any more kids. That went as well as you can imagine, Zeus was the first to fall off the wagon naturally because that guy can’t keep it in his pants.” I said.

Fang looked at me. “So that’s why there aren’t many kids like us?” He asked. I nodded. “Yeah, and Percy is pretty much the only Poseidon kid we know about. And then there’s Thalia the only known daughter of Zeus, besides Jason who is Roman of course.” I said. Fang nodded. “And for Hades there’s Hazel who’s Roman, and there’s you, me, and Bianca?” He asked. I almost wanted to snap at Fang but I held my tongue, Bianca was his sister too so he deserves to know about her. “Yeah… Bianca. It’s still hard for me to talk about her.” I said. 

“Nico, I just want to know about her.” Fang said. I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “Alright… you deserve to know anyways so I might as well tell you. You see when I first came to camp I was ten and Bianca was twelve, only two years older than me. I was so excited because I loved mythology and a game it was based around. But you see before we came Bianca joined the hunter of Artemis, a group who could only die in combat, they don’t allow men meaning while she was traveling the world hunting I was stuck at camp wondering about the next time I could see her. I was mad.” I said, I took a breath but I knew I had to continue. 

“Then there was a quest. And Bianca was one of the hunters chosen to go on it, but I overheard that another hunter that was chosen to go had fallen ill so I tried to follow them.” I said. Fang looked at me. “Why didn’t you?” He asked. I sucked in a breath and looked at him. “Because Percy told me not to, he had overheard as well and told me to stay, that he would go instead and protect Bianca for me. I was ten so I believed that he could do it. But… what I said to her had affected her, when they entered a junkyard for Hephaestus she took something for me. But that activated the guardian of the place and she sacrificed herself so the others could escape, Percy told me he tried to stop her but there was nothing he could do. The thing is at that point I had no idea that I was a son of Hades then but I felt her die, and I knew when she was being judged. I ran away from camp, I did some things I’m not proud of but now I’m back as you can see.” I said.

“Nico… what did Bianca take?” Fang asked. I sighed and stood up, opening my trunk and taking out the figurine, with it in hand I showed it to Fang. “It was this, it was the only one I didn’t have… I can barely stand to look at it now knowing Bianca died for it…” I said. Fang took it from me and looked at it. “It’s our dad… but she didn’t know did she?” He asked. I shook my head. “No, she didn’t. She had no idea just like me. I seem to have been more attuned to our powers, she never used them on purpose. I figured out how to summon skeletons, to shadow travel, to summon the obsidian pillars, and to crack the ground. And I did it in almost a solid year, because I blamed Percy for Bianca’s death and I hated him for it. But I was just trying to run from my own self loathing, deep down I knew it was my fault, I got mad with her thinking she was abandoning me to run around the woods hunting monsters for the sake of it. I can’t help but sometimes think the people around me who are the closest die, my mother was the first and then there was Bianca.” I said. 

Fang blinked as he looked at me. “Nico what do you mean by that?” He asked. I sighed and sat down on Fang’s bed. “Okay… I don’t remember what really happened to my mom, after she died dad used the river Lythe to whip those memories away. I remember things from my childhood but not everything. Dad whipped those memories away, things he thought I didn’t need to remember.” I said. Fang frowned. “Why did he do that?” He asked. 

I shrugged. “To protect me I guess, how can the memories hurt me if I don’t remember them?” I asked. Fang frowned. “But what if there’s something in there that will hurt you if you don’t know?” He asked. I sighed. “It’s not important Fang, I can’t remember so why should I stress myself out trying to remember?” I asked. Fang sighed. “Nico… what do you remember about your mom?” He asked. I sighed and twisted my ring. “I remember the advice she gave me, the song she sang to get me to sleep. Stuff like that but not really anything else.” I said.

Fang opened his mouth but I heard the horn and stood up. “That’s the horn, that means it’s dinner time. Let’s go, you must be starving.” I said. I heard Fang’s stomach growl and my brother smiled. “Yeah, okay let’s go.” He said.

* * *

_ “Well well well. It certainly is a surprise to see you again.”  _

_ “You will not take me alive! And you will never find my daughter!”  _

_ “Oh we’re not interested in her, we’re more interested in your son. Where is the little boy?” _

_ “My son died a year after he was born!”  _

_ “You’re lying! If he truly died then he would have a death certificate! Where is he?” _

_ “You will never find him, all you’ll ever see of him is his shadow as you try to catch up!”  _

_ I was looking at my hands, blood clear on them. I heard the door open and looked up, someone was running over to me. “Nico, Nico get your sister I’m getting you out of here.” _

_ “Papa, Mama.” I felt tears on my face. I felt hands on my back and I was being pushed up the stairs. “It doesn’t matter, go! I’ll take care of her. Just get Bianca!” I looked behind me and saw my father, but then I saw a shadow rise up behind him. “PAPA! PAPA LOOK OUT!” _

“Nico! Nico wake up!” 

I gasped as I bolted up, trying to push whoever was there away from me but then felt hands grip me. “Nico, calm down! It’s me! It’s Fang!” I opened my eyes and saw Fang, he was looking at me worriedly. I hiccuped and felt the tears start to fall, I put my hands over my face to try and hide it but I knew he had already seen. I felt Fang pull me against him and I felt his hand in my hair, I didn’t know what to do, it was so strange being in this situation.

“Shh, it’s okay. You’re okay Nico, it was just a dream. You’re alright, just breath okay?” Fang whispered to me. I hiccuped and clutched onto Fang, just wanting to disappear now. After a bit I heard a soft noise, I focused on it and realized Fang was humming. I clutched onto him and just listened to him humming, letting the noise wash over me and bring calm with it. Eventually I could open my eyes and felt better, I smiled weakly and wrapped my arms around myself. “I’m sorry, I woke you up didn’t I? It’s stupid isn’t it?” I asked. However when I looked at Fang he shook his head.

“No, don’t apologize. Everyone gets nightmares sometimes, you have nothing to feel sorry about. Just try to relax and calm down.” Fang said. I sighed and pulled my knees up to my chest. “I thought I was over this, I haven’t had a nightmare in a while.” I said. Fang wrapped an arm around me and pulled me against his side. “Nico nightmares are unpredictable, when I was around your age I got a lot of nightmares.” He said. I looked at him. “About what?” I asked.

“Well I’m in a cage, and it’s mostly dark in the room but I can hear others around me. Some people come in wearing white coats and start poking me with sticks and syringes, seeing how I’d react. I can see Max and the others and they look as scared as me. Then there’s the yard, and it’s full of Erasers, I see them put something in the yard with them and it tears whatever it is to pieces and I can hear it’s screams. And I’m terrified that I’ll be put in the yard next because I know I’ll die if I am. Sometimes they take me out of the cage and make me run on a treadmill, and if I stop they shock me with a cattle prod and force me to keep going.” Fang said. I sighed. “Is that really a nightmare?” I asked. Fang nodded. “Yes Nico, yes it is because sometimes when I wake up I forget where I am and think I’m back at that horrible place. Because Nico the first years of my life were a living nightmare.” He said.

I blinked, Fang was looking at me seriously, he wasn’t joking. “That actually happened to you? The cage, the sticks and syringe, the yard full of Erasers?” I asked. Fang nodded. “Yes, it did. And even though I try to not touch those memories they come back to me in nightmares and it makes me afraid that I will have to suffer that pain again.” He said. I looked at him, turning more towards him. “So how did you get away? You and the others?” I asked. I expected him to say that they heroically escaped or one of them got free after a test and freed the others and ran away together but Fang looked at me and smiled.

“Well, throughout the nightmare there was one brightside. And that brightside was named Jeb Batchelder, he was a white coat but he wasn’t like the others. He was kind and caring, he took care of us. One day he took us away from there, he just whisked us away into the mountains without prompting. He was like a father to us for two years before his vanished, we learned later he had returned to that place but to this day we keep in touch with him.” Fang said. I huffed. “That sounds too good to be true.” I said. Fang chuckled. “It does kinda sound like a fairy tale huh? But I swear it’s true Nico. Can you tell me about your nightmare?” He asked. 

I sighed and pulled on the sleeve of my hoodie. “I’m not sure what it’s about. I can hear a conversation, I know one of the voices belongs to my mother but I don’t know the other voice. Even though she seems to be talking to them I know she is secretly telling me something but I’m not sure what. Then I’m looking at my hands and they’re covered in blood and I’m not sure why. Then I see a door open and I see dad, he’s panicking and keeps telling me to go get Bianca. When I turn to look at him again I see a shadow start to loom over him and I tell him to look out…” I said. Fang frowned and tugged on my arm, I allowed myself to fall into his embrace without a fight.

“Nico… don’t you think it’s possible the blood on your hands belongs to your mom?” Fang asked. I looked at him and realized he looked worried. “Huh? Um, I don’t know. Is that concerning?” I asked. Fang sighed and suddenly pulled me into his lap making me blush but Fang didn’t acknowledge it. “Nico you could have seen your mother die and that doesn’t concern you?” He asked. I looked at my hands, realizing why he was concerned, seeing a family member being murdered right in front of you had an effect on someone’s mental health but I couldn’t remember. “I don’t know… I can’t even remember that day. If I can’t remember should I even be concerned?” I mumbled.

“Nico I think your mind is trying to remember, that dream could have been the memories you’re missing. Something triggered your mind to start trying to remember the day your mom died. Now think, is there anything you  _ can _ remember?” Fang asked, looking at me seriously. I blinked and looked at my hands, trying to think about that day and what I saw. For a long time all I could see was black and then my vision was filled with red, long dripping streams of red. I sighed and looked at Fang. “I’m sorry but I still can’t remember, all I remember is red.” I said.

“Nico there has to be more.” Fang said. I groaned and grabbed my head, a headache blooming. “I’m sorry… even if there is I don’t remember. I wish I could say more but there’s nothing else I remember. I’m sorry.” I said. Fang sighed but wrapped me in a hug. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to push you, clearly your mind isn’t ready to recall the whole thing or can’t.” He said. I sighed and held onto my brother, it felt like Fang was trying to understand what I’ve been through so he could help me with it. I looked at the clock and realized how late it was, we both needed to get some sleep if we would be up in order to eat breakfast. I scooted off Fang’s lap and looked at him. “It’s late, we both need some sleep. I’ll be okay.” I said.

Fang raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure Nico?” He asked. I sighed. “Honestly it’s hard sometimes but I’ll be okay. And we can’t sleep on the same bed.” I said. The beds in the cabin were twin sized and it wouldn’t be comfortable for us to sleep on the one bed because I would be on top of Fang. Fang blinked and looked around, suddenly standing up and walking over to the bunks near the back. I blinked as I watched him start throwing the blankets and pillows to the floor and ripping off the sheets from a bunk. “What are you doing?” I asked. 

Fang didn’t answer, he just started heaving the mattress off the bedspring. He set it down on the ground near the back of the cabin and then walked over to the bunk right across from the one he just stripped and started to repeat the process. I watched as he did this for almost every bunk in the cabin but the ones we had claimed, he then used the blankets and pillows to cover the whole thing, leaving the sheets crumpled on the floor. There was no order in the space and he then turned to look at me. “Do you have any spare blankets and pillows?” He asked and I nodded. “They're in the closet.” I said. Fang nodded and opened the closet, seeing the huge blankets I had and frankly large amount of pillows but he seemed unfazed. 

Fang pulled them out and started adding them to the area, soon it was hard to tell there were several mattresses underneath it all, it all just looked like one big mattress with blankets and pillows piled on. Fang settled himself down at the center and then looked at me, waving me over. “Come on, you said it yourself it’s late.” He said. I blinked but stood up, walking over to my brother and sitting down on the edge. That didn’t last long however and Fang reached over, pulling me against him and pulling me down as he laid down.

“We used to do this a lot, we had a little area where we could all sleep together. We all got used to being able to see each other before bed.” Fang muttered to me. I looked at Fang and sighed, leaning against my brother. “You don’t have to treat me like a child…” I muttered. Fang snorted and his arms tightened around me. “I’m not treating you like a child Nico… I’m treating you like my little brother which you are. I get to baby you a little bit.” He said. I sighed and buried my face in Fang’s arm, but honestly I was kinda glad he saw me as a little brother and sighed as I let myself relax.

* * *

“Aw, he’s adorable.”

“Is that hoodie even his size? He’s swimming in it.”

“Sweater paws, I wonder if he would wear a cat headband if I asked him?”

“Guys be quiet, you'll wake him up. Poor guy had a rough night.”

“Wow, already taking up the protective brother role huh?”

“Shut up, Nico needs someone to protect him in his life. Kid thinks he needs to stand on his own when he doesn’t have to. Now can you please be quiet so he can sleep?” 

“Hate to burst your bubble Fang but I think he already is awake.”

I felt a hand in my hair and Fang’s voice, low and gentle, began talking to me. “Nico, hey buddy if you’re awake then get up.” He said. I groaned and convinced my eyes to open, blinking. I looked over, seeing my brother sitting next to me on the makeshift bed with his little family surrounding us. I sat up and looked at them, rubbing my eyes. “What are all you guys doing in here?” I asked. Max looked at me with a soft smile. “You guys didn’t show up after a bit so we came looking for you guys.” She said. 

“So you decided to break into our cabin?” I asked, looking at them. Nudge shrugged. “We figured it would be best you don’t miss breakfast, now come on. Before it gets cold.” She said. I huffed but stood up, looking at Fang as he stood up. “You go on ahead, I’ll catch up.” I said. Fang blinked at me and shook his head. “I’m gonna clean up a bit so you can go ahead of me.” He said. I blinked but nodded and grabbed some clothes, going into the bathroom to change.

When I got out Fang was tidying up the cabin, picking up the sheets he had thrown about the night before and straightening the blankets and pillows on the mattresses he had pushed together. “I can help you put them back.” I said, walking over. However Fang began to shoo me away. “They're staying where they are for now, now go eat. I’ll join you when I’m done in here kid.” He said. I huffed and looked at him. “I’m your brother and you still call me a kid?” I asked.

“Just go, get the day started. I’ll be out soon.” Fang said. I sighed but nodded, walking out of the cabin. In the mess hall I saw where the rest of Fang’s little family was sitting and grabbed some food, walking over to join them. I sat down in between Nudge and Iggy, noticing the girl was smiling at me. “What? What’s with that smile plant girl?” I asked. Nudge giggled and covered her mouth. “Well that hoodie was so big on you and I keep imagining you with cat ears.” She said.

I blushed and reached up, flicking her ponytail. “Shut up, at least I can decide on a hairstyle. What’s it gonna be tomorrow? Pig tails?” I asked. Nudge grinned and opened her mouth but stopped when I heard a voice call out, one that made me cringe. “Hey look! It’s little Angel!” 

I groaned and looked at my food, trying to ignore it. They just had to come here today huh? A hand slammed down in front of me but I refused to look at the owner, they didn’t take that well however. “Hey, Angel. I’m talking to you, you little son of a bitch.” I sighed and looked up, meeting the eyes of the hunter of Artemis, the one that hated me the most. “What do you want Phoebe? I haven’t done anything to you.” I said. The woman in front of me however didn’t take that lightly. “Yeah right, when haven’t you done something? I wonder who you got killed this time. Last time it was a pretty close call. I mean you lured the son of Posiedon to your dad’s realm just because you didn’t want to admit the truth.” She said.

I sighed, ready to just get up and leave because I didn’t want to deal with this but she had me boxed in. “You should know by now my last name is di Angelo, Bianca was a hunter.” I said. Phoebe grinned. “Yeah, for a short time. I wonder how she’s doing after you got her killed.” She said. I frowned. “I wasn’t even there.” I said. The others couldn’t do anything as Phoebe’s hand shot up, slapping me hard and making me fall out of my seat. I managed to sit up, holding my cheek as the hunter screamed. “DON’T LIE YOU SON OF A BITCH! I BET YOU WERE THERE! Using your shadow travel to follow without anyone knowing!” She yelled. 

I looked up at her, the hunter was boiling mad I could tell but I had to defend myself. “I didn’t know how to shadow travel then!” I snapped. Phoebe stormed over, her hand raised again and I flinched, ready for another strike. However as her hand reeled back another hand snapped around her wrist, clutching it. Phoebe whipped around and behind her was Fang, eyes burning but his face as calm as ever. The hunter however looked more pissed. “Stay out of this! Or do you want to be taught just like the freak! Who do you think you are!” She screamed, reeling back and slapping Fang right across the face.

However Fang’s grip didn’t lighten, his head moved with the strike but after a moment he turned back to look at her. “Who am I? I’m Nick Ride, son of Hades and Nico’s older brother. Who the hell do you think you are? Striking a fourteen year old like that?” He said, voice low and menacing. Phoebe reeled back and struck again, this time punching Fang right in the chest, he didn’t even flinch. “I’m a hunter of Artemis you freak! Let go before I make you regret it!” She growled. Fang didn’t look impressed, instead he adjusted his grip and looked at her. “I don’t care if you’re a hunter of Artemis, you don’t get to bully Nico around just because Bianca was a hunter too and she died. Now, you turn and leave and don’t bother Nico again before  _ I _ make you regret it.” He said.

Everyone was looking at the two, Percy himself looked impressed, he could never beat a hunter of Artemis. Phoebe and Fang stood there locked in a standoff for a long time before Phoebe lifted her leg and kicked, striking Fang in the knee. I expected him to drop to one knee but he didn’t, it buckled yes but it stood strong. Fang’s eyes narrowed and his grip on her arm tightened, I saw the muscles in his arm tense and then lightning fast he twisted. I heard the bone snap and Phoebe screamed, but Fang wasn’t done as he then jerked her forward. She landed on the ground and Fang put one foot on her back, pulling on her arm until there was a pop and more screaming. Fang let go of her arm and it flopped uselessly, the woman was glaring and several hunters were standing now. 

Fang didn’t seem to care as he looked at her “Let that be a lesson to you about striking a child. And also a warning to anyone else who thinks it’s a good idea to pick on Nico.” He then looked up at the other hunters. “And let it be known I was  _ nice _ with that, anyone else who hits, insults, or blames Nico for anything will taste my full wrath. This is your only warning so make sure to spread the word to anyone who didn’t hear.” He growled. Fang then pushed past a hunter to get to me and then helped me up. His eyes softened as he looked at me. “Are you okay? Do you need to go to the infirmary?” He asked. I shook my head. “I’m okay, I don’t think I need to go. I probably just need some ice or something.” I said.

Fang nodded and led me back to the table, sitting down with me. I felt the coldness of ice against the hot sting of where the strike hit and looked over, it was Angel applying the ice. She was frowning and so was everyone else, Max was giving Fang an ice pack for his own injury that he placed before glaring over at Phoebe as her fellow hunters helped her up. I looked at him, glad he had stepped up for me. “Thank you, no matter what I did I couldn’t get her to leave me alone. Honestly it wouldn’t have been the first time she sent me to the infirmary.” I said.

“Why doesn’t anyone stop them? What’s stopping them?” Fang asked. Percy of course answered. “Because they’re used to kicking the asses of some of the most dangerous monsters, standing up to a hunter like that is like asking to get your ass handed to you. I don’t act because usually they are better than this but she has always had something against Nico. I do what I can but it does little.” He said. Fang glared. “Doesn’t Artemis protect children? She should be kicked up for treating Nico like that.” He said. 

That’s when Thalia appeared. “Well if you want to take that up with Artemis herself than be my guest.” She said. Fang of course recognized the hunter gear and was immediately hostile, bristling and looking ready to jump between me and her. I looked at him with a smile. “It’s okay Nick, she’s a friend.” I then looked at Thalia. “Thalia this is Nick, my brother.” I then looked back at Fang. “Nick this is Thalia Grace, a hunter of Artemis and daughter of Zeus. One of the most badass women I know and one of the more nice hunters.” I said. Thalia grinned and held out her hand. “Nice to meet ya! Honestly that was awesome, I’ve never seen someone stand up to Phoebe like that.” She said. 

Fang blinked at her but took her hand and shook it. “Thanks but I was just doing what’s right.” He said. Thalia nodded. “I know, honestly I’d do the same for Jason if someone was picking on him too.” She said. Fang raised an eyebrow at that. “Jason? As in the blonde that wears glasses and has a scar on his lip?” He asked. Thalia nodded. “Uh huh, he’s my baby brother. We have the same mom actually so we’re even closer.” She said. Fang hummed. “I didn’t know that, that’s kinda cool.” He said.

Of course Jason seemed to notice us and walked over, noticing the ice packs right away. “Okay, who punched you?” He asked. Fang huffed. “You should see the other one.” He said. Thalia nodded. “Yeah, you should have seen it. This guy here broke Phoebe’s arm, and dislocated both her elbow  _ and _ shoulder. And that was after she hit him three times.” She said. I blinked. “I didn’t hear another pop.” I said. Thalia scoffed. “Yeah because they were dislocated at the same time. Seriously remind me to never get on his bad side.” She said. Jason looked at Fang. “She hit you three times? Are you okay?” He asked.

Fang waved his hand. “Oh I’m fine, I’m guessing she wasn’t used to someone so tough. It barely hurt when she punched me in the chest, it hurt more when she kicked me in the knee.” He said. Jason frowned. “Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the infirmary?” He asked. Fang huffed, removing his ice pack from his cheek revealing the bruising already developing. “Yeah I’m okay, I’ve been hurt worse.” He said. Jason sighed but nodded. “Okay if you say so. I just hope nothing comes out of this.” He said.

* * *

_ Fang’s POV _

“And that’s what happened, she attacked Nico. I tried to get her to stop and she didn’t listen to reason. She struck me three times so I only think what I did was karma, swift and served cold. Probably not as bad as what she did to Nico over the years though.” I said, looking at Chiron. The centar was examining me, a few feet away from him was the hunter Phoebe. Her arm arm in a sling and glaring at me like it would do anything. Chiron hummed and looked at Percy who was standing in the doorway. “Percy is what Nick is telling me the truth?” He asked. 

Percy nodded. “Yes sir, she struck Nico and was about to hit him again when Nick grabbed her wrist. He didn’t do anything until after she kicked him in the knee after she punched him in the chest after she slapped him. He had asked her to stop and only acted after she showed that she had no intentions of listening to him.” He said. Chiron nodded and looked at me. “I believe you Nick, Thalia told me yesterday what she saw and since Percy is telling me the same story then I have no reason to not believe you. We’ll call this a simple case of self defense given the situation.” He said. 

I smiled glad that the man believed me when I hadn’t started the whole thing. However Phoebe was less than pleased. “Are you serious!? You’re letting that freak get away with this!? He’s just as bad as his goddamn freak of a brother!” She screamed. I stood up. “Call me a freak all you want bitch. I’m used to it.” I said, walking over to her. Standing face to face with er it was clear how much taller I was. 

“But don’t you  _ dare _ call Nico a freak when he hasn’t done anything to you. My brother has done nothing wrong, Bianca made a mistake because she wanted to make him happy again because she made Nico feel like she was abandoning him by joining the hunters of Artemis. She fixed that mistake and died a hero so don’t you dare blame Nico for something that wasn’t his fault. So go ahead, punch me, hit me, scream and call me a freak all you want because I’ve suffered worse but don’t you  _ dare _ lay a finger on Nico again. He’s suffered enough, he doesn’t need to endure your torment. You think you’re better than all the men you see because you can only die in battle? With that kind of thinking you’re no better than the people who made my life a living nightmare for the first years of my life and they treated me like a goddamn object.” I said. 

“Why the hell do you care so much? You’ve only known the freak for a few weeks.” Phoebe growled. I huffed. “I might be new in Nico’s life and he might be new in mine but this isn’t the first time I’ve been a brother. I read books to Angelica and Jack when they couldn’t sleep, I helped Jeff around the house when he first became blind, I held Katie’s hand when she scraped her knee as Max took care of it, hell I stood by Max as we were left to raise ourselves in the mountains of Colorado! We might not share blood but they are my family and I know one thing about family. You protect your family, you help them when they have nightmares, you build a blanket fort for you to sleep in so they can sleep through the night, and you stand up to bullies when they can’t do it themselves. You don’t let them continue to suffer when you can do something about it.” I said.

Phoebe blinked but I backed up, looking and seeing the look on Percy’s face. I sighed and looked at her. “So don’t lecture me on how a family works or how they should be. I bet my definition is more right than yours because you probably never had a family which is why you joined the hunters. But I have four siblings and Nico makes five, my relationship might have grown above a sibling relationship with Max but I still care for her like my own. So never tell me how much I should love Nico just because I’ve only known him for a short time, he’s still my brother and I care for him, probably more than you’ll ever know.” I said. With that I left, I didn’t need to stay here anymore and left.

It was raining as I left the Big House but before I stepped off the porch I heard a shout. “Nick!” I turned and saw Percy run after me, he stopped after a bit and looked at me. “Was what you said true? That your mom made your first years hell?” He asked. I looked at him. “The first years of my life where hell yes but my mother had nothing to do with it. I never knew her, orphaned from birth, just like the rest. Max was lucky and found her mom, the rest of us have no idea who they were. The people who made my life hell are a different breed than some abusive parent. I wasn’t lying when I said they treated me like an object, they treated the rest like that too.” I said.

Percy frowned. “You don’t mention any of them by name, who are these people?” He asked. I sighed, looking at the sky. “I never knew any of their names, we just called them white-coats.” I said. With that I left, walking through the rain to get to the Hades cabin. I hoped that Nico wasn’t alone in the cabin considering what happened to the poor boy, he was abandoned by pretty much everyone he loved so I hoped he hadn’t worried about me while I was gone. 

I entered the cabin and saw Nico curled up on the area I had set up the night he had a nightmare with a book. The boy was flipping pages with his legs swinging up and down, clearly he was as happy as could be. I changed into dry clothes and then walked over, sitting down next to him making him look up. “Fang? You’re back! Are you okay?” He asked, sitting up. I smiled and nodded. “I’m okay Nico, it was nothing. Chiron heard my side of the story and since both Percy and Thalia told him the same thing he believed me over her. I tore her a new one too when she acted like a bullheaded bitch.” I said.

Nico smiled. “Okay, good. I’m so glad to hear that. But did you have to walk through the rain? I’m sure Chiron would have let you take an umbrella.” He said. I laughed. “I didn’t stick around for him to offer honestly. Guess you noticed the rain huh?” I asked. Nico nodded. “I like it when it rains, it makes a great atmosphere for some reading.” He said. I smiled and got comfortable next to him. “What are you reading right now?” I asked. Nico bookmarked the page and showed me the cover, it read  _ Spirit Animals: Blood Ties _ . I hummed, looking at the beautifully decorated cover. “What’s it about?” I asked. Nico smiled and tucked some of his hair behind his ear. “Do you really want to know? I tend to ramble about things like this.” He said. I nodded. “Of course, I want to know what interests you.” I said.

Nico smiled happily and chuckled. “Okay, well I know where to start, the beginning.” He said.

* * *

“Well I certainly wasn’t expecting to see this when I came to check on the two of you.” Percy said, looking around the cabin. I looked up at the boy, holding a large blanket in my arms. Nico’s arms were loaded with pillows. We were transforming the back of the cabn into a fort, with the help of the flock I managed to get my hands on a few queen size mattresses which I had set up, I had put the bunks back together but we also disassembled almost all the bunks but four to make room for the fort. We were in the process of hanging up the blankets for walls when Percy walked in.

Nico was blushing lightly but I just looked at Percy. “Well lots of siblings build forts together don’t they? Bonding exercise.” I said. Percy grinned as Nico went to the fort, putting the pillows in his arms in a certain arrangement. The son of Posiedon chuckled and looked at me. “You’re doing great Nick.” He said. I blinked. “What makes you say that?” I asked. Percy chuckled and looked at Nico. “Look at him, I haven’t seen Nico smile like that since he was ten. Losing Bianca hit him hard. He tries so hard to act like an adult but here he is, building a blanket fort with you like he’s the kid he’s supposed to be.” He said. 

I looked at Nico and saw that he was smiling, I then looked at Percy who was still smiling. “Well I have experience as a big brother so I know what to do.” I said. Percy grinned and chuckled. “Well I could use some pointers with my baby sister if you have any advice.” He said. I chuckled and looked at him. “Babies are very easy to please, you should be able to do it.” I said. 

“Fang! Come on, bring that blanket over here!” Nico called. I looked over and smiled. “I’ll be there in a bit Nico.” I said. Percy looked at me, blinking. “Why’d he call you that?” He asked. I sighed. “All my friends call me Fang, he’s family so Nico can call me that.” I said simply. Percy nodded. “Okay but why Fang?” He asked. I grinned, showing my teeth for the first time. “Well my teeth can be pretty sharp, that’s all I’m gonna say.” I said. Percy laughed and I chuckled, the son of Posiedon was a nice guy and I could see myself being his friend. 

“So can I call you Fang or am I still limited to Nick?” Percy asked. I chuckled. “We’ll see about that.” I said. Percy nodded, still smiling and he watched as I walked over to Nico with the blanket in my arms. It felt nice, my life had been a living hell for years but here I was with my little brother building a blanket fort just like I did with the flock and it honestly felt like my life was coming together. I knew who my dad was, I had a sibling I was related to by blood and I was in a place that I felt safe in with the flock. This was nice and I wouldn’t let anything ruin this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed leave a kudos or comment your thoughts.


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